the poetic name of
Tutevillus. It is his duty to attend all services in order to listen
to the gossips and to write down every word they say. After death
these women are entertained in hell with their own speeches, which
this diabolical church clerk has carefully noted down. Tradition has
it that one fine Sunday this demon was sitting in a church on a beam,
on which he held himself fast by his feet and his tail, right over two
village gossips, who chattered so much during the Blessed Mass that he
soon filled every corner of the parchment on both sides. Poor
Tutevillus worked so hard that the sweat ran in great drops down his
brow, and he was ready to sink with exhaustion. But the gossips ceased
not to sin with their tongues, and he had no fair parchment left
whereon to record their foul words. So having considered for a little
while, he grasped one end of the roll with his teeth and seized the
other end with his claws and pulled so hard as to stretch the
parchment. He tugged and tugged with all his strength, jerking back
his head mightily at each tug, and at last giving such a fierce jerk
that he suddenly lost his balance and fell head over heels from the
beam to the floor of the church. (From "The Vision of Saint Simon of
Blewberry" in F. O. Mann's collection of mediaeval tales.)

DEVIL-PUZZLERS

BY FREDERICK BEECHER PERKINS

Through Asmodeus the devil became associated with humour and
gallantry. Asmodeus sharpened his wits in his conversations with the
wisest of kings. It will be recalled that this demon was the familiar
spirit of Solomon, whose throne, according to Jewish legend, he
occupied for three years. Perhaps it was not Solomon after all but
this diabolical usurper who gathered around himself a thousand wives.
It is said that Asmodeus is as dangerous to women as Lilith is to men.
He loves to decoy young girls in the shape of a handsome young man.
His love for the beautiful Sarah is too well known to need any
comment. He is a fastidious devil, and will not have the object of his
passion subject to the embrace of any other mortal or immortal.

Reference is made by the author to Albert Reville's epitome of Georg
Roskoff's _Geschichte des Teufels_ (Leipzig, 1869), a standard work on
the history of the devil. The review by this French Protestant first
appeared in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ for 1870, and was translated
into English the following year. A second edition appeared six years
later. Roskoff