Page:Devil stories - an anthology.djvu/305

 wished to rival God, has instituted the infernal council in imitation of the celestial council described in the Book of Job. The source for the parliament of devils is the apocryphal book Evangelium Nicodemi. An early metrical tract under the title of the Parlement of Devils was printed two or three times in London about 1520. A "Pandemonium" is also found in Tasso, Milton, and Chateaubriand. The Parlement of Foules (14th century) is but a modification of the Parlement of Devils, for the devil and the fool were originally identical in person and may be traced back to the demonic clown of the ancient heathen cult (cf. the present writer's book. The Origin of the German Carnival Comedy, p. 37). A far echo is Thomas Chatterton's poem The Parliament of Sprites.

This story recalls to us the saying that the heart of a beautiful woman is the most beloved hiding-place of at least seven devils.

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