The Cat and the Devil

Long ago, the people of the French town of Beaugency were only able to cross the river Loire by boat, which was terribly inconvenient. Consequently, when the Devil approached the town’s Lord Mayor about building a grand bridge across the river in a single night, the town was delighted. 

The Devil’s only payment would be ownership of the first person to cross the bridge. True to his word, the Devil built a marvellous bridge in a single night, but nobody was willing to step onto it, knowing what their fate would be if they were the first to do so. But the Lord Mayor had another plan. He placed a cat on the bridge, and threw a bucket of water over it, so it would bolt into the arms of the Devil. 

Angry at being fooled, the Devil yelled in French, ‘you are not nice people. You are nothing but cats.’ He takes pity on the cat, and they leave together. 

Since that time, the people of the town are called ‘le chats de Beaugency’ (the cats of Beaugency), but they continue to enjoy the bridge and all the convenience it brings—and the Devil has never returned!

A humorous postscript states that the Devil has his own language (Bellsybabble), which he makes up as he goes along, but when he is angry he often breaks into very bad French.

This is a stunningly illustrated edition of a simple French folk tale, told by one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. It was sent by Joyce in a letter to his grandson Stephen, so the text includes some elements of that original form and Stevie is depicted in the opening illustrations, as is his little cat. 

Joyce is best known for Ulysses, a 700+ page, groundbreaking tome of modernist literature (the centenary of its publication is this year), so this brief, colourful tale provides a very interesting counterpoint. 

There are no religious connotations within the text or the illustrations. The Devil is drawn in a style often seen in comedic movies depicting a deal with the devil (and subsequent consequences) - a stylish red suit, with horns and a tail, holding a pitchfork. 

The folk tale is an ancient one, and exists in various versions, although all with the same core concept: The devil agrees to build a bridge in exchange for the first soul to cross, but is cheated out of his reward by a clever human, who sends an animal across instead.  

In the Aarne-Thompson Classification of Folk Tales (which groups them into their common themes), the classification number for The Cat and the Devil is 1191.

A very beautifully presented example of a classic folk tale, that would work well in the classroom.