The Legend of Stingy Jack and the Halloween Turnip

It’s almost Halloween! If you find yourself walking down a lonely, dark and misty road on All Hallows’ Eve in Ireland and you see a ghostly light approaching and a faint figure, the best you can do is turn around and hurry towards it. other side. You have come face to face with Stingy Jack and his Halloween Turnip.

Stingy Jack was a terrible person. A blacksmith by trade, he spent most of his time deceiving, lying, and robbing local peasants and any unsuspecting visitors who were unlucky enough to come into contact with him. When he wasn’t being a terrible person, he was at the local tavern turning into a nasty drunk.

His reputation spread. He became famous for his ability to dissuade people from his life savings. His “silver tongue” became legendary.

Even the devil started hearing about Stingy Jack and he didn’t like what he heard. He was the “silver-tongued devil”, right? No one else was going to take HIS place! So he decided it was time to visit Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack had run out of time.

One dark and unpleasant night, Stingy Jack was walking down the dark path after spending several hours at his favorite tavern. He saw someone lying on the road and the figure was grinning at him. When he got a little closer, he realized that it wasn’t just Satan and Stingy Jack knew his time was up; it was time to pay what was due.

Stingy Jack approached old Lucifer and said, “I know who you are and I’m ready to go with you. But, before we descend into the bowels of Hades, couldn’t you and I go back to the tavern and take a couple of rounds? of beer to freshen up before our trip? “

The devil thought about it for a moment and, seeing no reason not to go to the tavern, he said to Stingy Jack, “Okay.”

They returned to the Tavern and spent a couple of hours drinking beer, and when it was almost morning, Stingy Jack turned to leave.

“Wait a minute,” said the devil, “you invited me here, you have to pay the innkeeper.”

“But I have no money,” said Stingy Jack, “you can pay him.”

But the devil refused.

Stingy Jack thought about it for a second and then came up with a solution.

“I know what we can do,” he told Lucifer. “You can become a silver coin and I can pay the bartender. When he goes to the back room to get another keg of beer, you can become yourself and we can sneak out the door.”

The devil thought about it and was impressed with Stingy Jack’s plan. It was an idea worthy of him. So, he turned himself into a silver coin.

But instead of giving the bartender the silver coin, Stingy Jack stuffed it in his filthy pocket, under a crucifix he kept there.

The devil was livid with anger. He couldn’t believe that Stingy Jack had cheated on him!

Jack paid the innkeeper with his own money and left the tavern. The devil kept begging him to release him and finally Stingy Jack made a deal for him. “If you promise to leave me alone for ten years, I will set you free,” he told the devil.

What could the devil do? He promised and Jack released him.

The ten years passed quickly and Stingy Jack became worse than before. Everyone feared him and his ways of deceiving and avoided him whenever possible.

Then one cold, dark night, Stingy Jack saw the same familiar figure lying on the road smiling at him again.

Oh no, he thought. “Already!”

He approached the devil, who was now standing under a magnificent apple tree. “Okay,” he said. “You have me this time. I’m ready. But, before we go, could you do me a favor? For many days I have wanted one of those juicy apples from this tree, but they are all at the top. I am old and I cannot go up there. to get one. Would you do an old man a favor and climb the tree and give me one last apple to chew on during our trip to Hades? “

The devil decided it was not an unreasonable request, so he climbed the tree and threw the best apple at Stingy Jack. Then, to his dismay, when he tried to climb down from the tree, he discovered that Jack had carved crosses around the trunk of the tree and was trapped! Frustrated again!

He begged and pleaded with Jack to disappoint him while Jack casually chewed on his apple.

“Okay,” said Jack. “I’ll make a deal for you. I’ll disappoint you if you promise to leave me alone for another ten years and you must PROMISE that you will never take my soul to Hades.”

“It’s a deal,” sighed the devil. What choice did I have?

So Stingy Jack once again released the Devil and laughed as he vanished into thin air.

Well, seven years passed and Stingy Jack reached the end of his life. He wasn’t too worried because he knew that the devil couldn’t claim his soul and he could go to heaven. He died with a smile on his face.

When Stingy Jack swaggered over to Pearly Gates, Saint Peter had a surprise for him. “There is no way you can get into heaven, Stingy Jack. We don’t allow criminals and bad people like you to get into heaven. Go back where you came from!”

Dismayed, Jack returned to earth and reflected on his situation. Finally, he went to the Gates of Hades. “You win, Diablo,” he said. “Let me enter Hades.”

The devil laughed. “I can’t let you into Hades, Jack,” he said. “I made you a solemn promise that I would not take your soul to Hades and I cannot take my word back. You are doomed to wander eternally in the darkness between Heaven and Hell. ETERNALLY!”

When Jack, dejected, turned to leave, the devil said, “Here. Here’s an ember from Hades to light your way,” and threw an ember at Jack.

The only thing Jack had in his pocket was a turnip he had stolen (he loved turnips) and his razor. He cut off the top of the turnip and took out the inside, carving holes in the sides so that when he put the ember inside, he would have a kind of lantern.

The devil made sure that word of Jack’s situation spread across the field. Local residents sometimes saw Jack’s lantern glimmering in the distance and avoided him. He became known as Jack of the Lantern, soon abbreviated as JACK O’LANTERN.

His evil did not stop, especially on All Hallows’ Eve, when it was easier for evil spirits to harass the living. So local farmers began carving turnips and rutabagas and putting candles inside to scare Jack if he came near their houses.

When the Irish came to America, they brought many of their traditions, including this one. However, it wasn’t long before they discovered that it was easier to carve a PUMPKIN to put in their windows and on their porches on Halloween, then a TURNIP.

But, you still have to be careful on Halloween – there are spooky things!