The Legend of Jack

One night, Jack encounters the Devil, who has come to claim his soul. Being quite cunning, Jack convinces the Devil to transform into a coin so that he might buy him one last drink at a tavern. As soon as the Devil shifts form, Jack places him into his purse right next to a silver cross—trapping him and forcing him to promise that he will not touch his soul for another ten years. When the ten years have passed, the Devil returns to claim Jack. Jack asks him to pick an apple from a tree as his final wish; while the Devil is up in the branches, Jack carves a cross into the trunk, trapping him once again. In exchange for his freedom, Jack secures a promise from the Devil that he will never seek his soul again.

When Jack eventually dies, the gates of Heaven are closed to him due to his dissolute and sinful life. He then goes to Hell, but the Devil—honoring the promise he made—refuses to let him in.

Jack is thus condemned to wander for eternity in the darkness between the two worlds. Before sending him away, the Devil tosses him a burning ember straight from the fires of Hell. Jack places the glowing coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to light his path. From that moment on, he has been known as Jack of the Lantern.

Antica leggenda Irlandese