Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 266: Louisiana- The Devil’s Marriage (Fortier)

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EP 266: Louisiana- The Devil’s Marriage (Fortier) · Sandman Stories Presents

• 0:25
  Welcome back listeners to Sandman's Stories Presents
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  Folklore podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next
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  story. I'm your host, Dustin.
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  Today we are back in the book of Louisiana folklore written down
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  by Elsie Fortier. In today's story, we'll learn
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  about being careful with your choices and how choosing a dirty
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  egg can save your life. OK, let's begin.
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  The devil's marriage. Once there was a pretty young
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  girl, but she was very proud, and every time the young man
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  came to court her, she found a pretext to send them away.
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  One was too small, another too tall, another had red hair.
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  In short, she refused all her suitors.
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  One day her mother said to her, My daughter, you see that tall,
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  tall tree in the middle of the river?
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  I'm going to put this pumpkin on the smallest branch at the top
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  of the tree. And the young man who will be
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  able to climb up and catch the pumpkin will be your husband.
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  The daughter said she had no objections, so they put a notice
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  in the newspapers. The next week a crowd of young
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  men presented themselves, and among them one who was
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  beautifully dressed and exceedingly handsome.
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  He was the devil, but nobody knew him, the younger told her
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  mother. I wish he would fetch the
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  pumpkin. All of the young men climbed on
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  the tree, but none succeeded in reaching the pumpkin.
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  When the turn of the devil came, in one minute he was up the tree
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  and had the pumpkin in his hand. As soon as he was down, he said
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  to the young girl, Come now, come with me to my house.
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  The girl put on her best dress and went away with the devil.
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  On the road they met a man who said to the devil, Give me my
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  cravat and my collar which I had lent to you.
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  The devil took off his cravat and his collar and said, Here,
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  take your old cravat and your old collar.
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  A little further on, another man saw the devil and told him, Give
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  me my shirt which I had lent to you.
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  The devil took off his shirt and said, here, here, take your old
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  shirt a little further. He saw another man who said to
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  him, Give me my cloak which I lent to you.
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  The devil took off his cloak and said, here, here, take your old
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  cloak. A little further on a man asked
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  for his trousers, and then another one for his hat.
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  The devil took off his trousers and the hat and said, Here,
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  here, take your old trousers and your old hat.
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  He came down from his carriage and disappeared for a few
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  minutes. Then he returned as well dressed
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  as before. The young lady was beginning to
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  be very frightened when they met another man who said, Give me my
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  horses which I had lent to you. The devil gave him four horses
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  and said to his wife, Get down from the carriage and hit
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  yourself to it. She drew the carriage as far as
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  the devil's house, and was so frightened that her heart was
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  almost in her mouth. The devil entered his garden.
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  He said to his wife, Remain here with my mother.
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  As soon as he was gone, the mother said to the young lady,
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  Ah, my daughter, you have taken a bad husband.
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  You have married the devil. The poor girl was so sorry that
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  she did not know what to do, and she said to the old woman, Can't
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  you tell me how I can run away? The old woman replied, yes, wait
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  until tomorrow morning, but come, let me show you something.
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  She opened the door of a little room and said, look my daughter.
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  The girl looked in the room and what did she see?
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  A number of women hanging from a nail.
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  She was so frightened that she asked the old woman if she could
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  not hide her somewhere until the next morning.
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  The woman said yes, but let me tell you how you can escape from
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  here. When the devil tells you to give
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  one sack of corn to his rooster which wakes him up in the
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  morning, you will give him 3 sacks so that he eats more and
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  does not crow so early. Then you go to the chicken house
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  and take 6 dirty eggs. Take care not to take clean
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  eggs, that will bring you bad luck.
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  The next morning the young lady gave the rooster 3 sacks corn
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  while she took the eggs and ran away.
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  When the rooster had finished eating his three sacks, he
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  crowed, Mr. Devil, wake up, wake up, someone has run away from
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  the house. The devil got up quickly and
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  started to run after his wife. The poor girl looked behind her
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  and saw smoke and fire. Indeed, the devil himself, she
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  took an egg and broke it. A high wooden fence arose in the
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  middle of the road. The devil had to return home to
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  get his golden axe to cut down the fence.
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  After he had broken down the fence, he took his axe to his
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  house. The girl looked behind her.
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  She saw smoke and fire the devil himself.
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  She broke another egg and there grew an iron fence.
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  The devil went home to get his golden axe and had to take it
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  back. After breaking the fence, the
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  girl looked again. There was fire and smoke.
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  She broke another egg and a great fire rose up in the road.
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  The devil went to get his jar of water to put out the fire, and
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  then he had to take the jar back.
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  The girl heard again a noise. It was smoke and fire.
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  She threw another egg. A brick wall grew up.
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  The devil went to get his golden axe and carried it back.
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  After breaking the wall, the girl looked again.
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  She saw fire and smoke. She broke another egg.
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  A small river appeared, in which was a small canoe.
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  She entered the canoe and crossed the river, and the devil
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  was obliged to swim across. The girl looked again.
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  She saw fire and smoke. She broke another egg and a
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  large river appeared. There was a big crocodile on the
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  other side of the river, warming himself in the sun.
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  The girl sang. Grandmother, I pray you cross me
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  over. Grandmother, I pray you save my
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  life, The crocodile said. Climb on my back, my little one,
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  I'll save your life. The devil saw how the girl had
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  crossed the river, so he said to the crocodile.
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  Cross me over, crocodile, cross me over.
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  The crocodile replied. Climb on my back, I shall cross
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  you over. When he reached the middle of
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  the river, he dove under the water, and the devil was
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  drowned. When the girl had left her
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  mother's house with her husband, her mother had called to her.
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  Well, my child, what do you wish me to do with your old White
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  Horse? The girl said to her mother, I
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  don't care what you do, put him out in the pasture and let him
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  die if he wants to. However, when she crossed the
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  river on the crocodile's back, she saw her old horse in the
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  pasture and said to him, I pray to you, O body, save my life.
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  The horse replied, Oh, now you want me to save your life?
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  Didn't you tell your mother to let me die if I wanted?
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  Well, climb on my back, I shall carry you now to your mother.
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  The girl soon reached her mother's house.
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  She got down from the horse and she kissed him, and then she
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  kissed her mother. She remained at home after that
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  and did not wish to marry again after having had the devil for
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  her husband. The End.
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  All right, I like that story. You know, there's always a bit
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  of history with that. And getting married is always a
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  tricky thing. You don't really know your
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  partner until you get married. And even then, they can change.
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  And for a long time, I mean, even now, it's still dangerous
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  for women. But back before women could own
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  property, before they could have credit cards, before they could
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  do a lot of stuff, you were just at the mercy of your spouse.
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  And that's, that's wild. And so I love these Louisiana
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  stories and I like, I like the egg cracking.
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  I like the having to go back and get stuff and repeating in the
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  story. It was it was all really nice.
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  And the horse at the end was real, real cute.
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  OK. And the podcast shout out is to
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  my friend, says Shira over at Legendary Africa.
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  She has been super busy obtaining her PhD.
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  So the storytelling has been put on pause for the moment, but
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  she's a cool person and has a lot of lovely stories on tap and
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  not enough African folklores in the public eye.
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  So if you love her show as much as I do, go and give her a like
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  a rating and a review. And the listener shout out is to
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  Pilsen, Czechia. Yes, that is the Pilsen as in a
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  Pilsner beer and is no longer Czechoslovakia, nor is it the
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  Czech Republic. It is now Czechia.
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  Pilsen was and still is an important city on the route from
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  Bohemia to Bavaria. The city's castle was first
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  mentioned in 976. It became famous for the beer
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  brewing in 13 O 7 and never looked back.
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  Sadly, the city was occupied by German forces in World War 2 and
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  the entire Jewish population of 2000 people were sent to the
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  concentration camp in Terezen, Germany.
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  Today the city is known for its baroque architecture in Pilsen
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  Urkel beer. I would love to go and try an
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  adult beverage in their town square.
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  I really do hope to visit there someday.
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  And so to my listener in Pilsen, I say in Czech, Chikuye E dobro
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  Notch. Thank you and good night.