Cultural
Background Storyteller's Cabin
Suddenly, a fearsome man appeared beside the path. "Gimme my tie and collar which I lent ya!" he calls out. Marie's husband took off the tie and collar. "Here, then," he says, "take back your ol' tie and collar."
A little farther down the road, they met another man. He says, "Gimme back my coat which I lent ya!" "Take your ol' coat," says her husband.
Yet a third man appeared and demanded his trousers; a fourth demanded his hat. A little while later, her husband stopped the wagon, disappeared briefly into the swamp woods, and returned just as well dressed as before!
Finally, a fifth man, fiercer than all the others together, his face hidden in the shadow of his tall hat, appeared before them and pointed a long, bony finger. "Give me the horses which I lent ya!" he roars. "Go to the devil, then," says her husband with a wicked laugh, "and take your ol' horses with ya."
He watched as the man led the animals away, then he turned to his wife and hissed, "Girl, get down and hitch ya'self to the wagon and pull us home !" Marie Jolie could feel her temper rising. She was gonna tell him a thing or two! But a terrible change had come over her husband. His icy glare and ugly scowl frightened her. She thought she had better do as he said at least for a little while. She climbed down, hitched herself to the wagon, and began to pull with all her strength.
At last they arrived at her husband's cabane. It was a gloomy lookin' place, set way back in the swamp woods. "Marie Jolie," says her husband, "I must leave. While I am gone, you will stay here and see no one. My maman will take good care of you " And he disappeared in a burst of flames and smoke.
Marie was scared for true. She begged her new momma-in-law, "Please, Belle-Megrave, tell me why my husband is so strange."
Belle-Megrave, who was a kind woman at heart and felt worse than anybody about how her son had turned out, sadly shook her head. "Oh, chère fille, " she says, "you've made a terrible match. You have gone and married M'su Diable, the devil himself!"
Marie couldn't believe her ears. "Old woman, you are only jealous. You just want to break up my marriage."
"You do not believe me, p'tite fille? Come with me," the old woman whispered. She led Marie Jolie inside the house to a secret door. She unlocked it with a big brass key and the heavy door creaked open. There, inside that dim room, Marie saw the devil's other wives - each one hanging from a hook!
Now Marie Jolie knew the truth. "Oh, please, Belle- Mère," she cried, "you gotta tell me how I can escape! How can I get out of here?"
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