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Comment by neves | Hacker News Reader

I love deals with the Devil. What's your favorite Deal with the Devil tale? Tell me one off the beaten path.

My favorite is the Brazillian "Grande Sertão: Veredas"

https://kasmana.people.charleston.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?ca...

“The Devil and Simon Flagg” in which Flagg sells his soul in exchange for the proof of Fermat’s last theorem. No proof is found, but the Devil becomes consumed with mathematics.

Cool, someone should update the story now with the Collatz conjecture.

I love any story about ancient super powerful creatures being defeated by modern people. Humanity kicks ass.

These things are often scaled to be something extremely powerful but possible for the hero to struggle against, at the time, which often puts them far below the capabilities of modern society. This is usually missing the point (the ancient God or gods probably set up an adversary that like that on purpose, or whatever, to show something to the mortals), but just taking that on face value and trouncing the thing will never not be funny to me.

It's on the beaten path, but how can you resist (and how did the New Yorker resist?) "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Went_Down_to_Georgia

Most of the deals in the article do not end well for the human, but here there's no lesson about hubris, nor the curse of knowledge, or anything else. No, Johnny's just a better fiddle player, he beats the devil, and he wins a golden fiddle fair and square.

(The article might allude to this story: "Satan is not the real God, because there is only one God; the Devil doesn’t have the best tunes.")

There is a lesson about hubris, but most people miss it. The Devil's deal is false, he doesn't play "fair and square." Johnny wins the bet but still loses his soul to the sin of pride. It's even in the lyrics: "My name's Johnny and it might be a sin, but I'll take your bet and you're gonna regret 'cause I'm the best that's ever been!"

At least that's how I've always interpreted it.

Very interesting interpretation! I see your point.

Which always seemed to me just a retelling of the Robert Johnson “crossroads” legend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Johnson#Devil_legend

Maybe shifting further but ’the silver tongued devil’ by Kris Kristofferson is a beautiful song with a beautiful message in my opinion

funny enough, "To Beat the Devil" of his is my pick for the best riff on the trope of country songs about musicians taking on the devil

A modern take I've always enjoyed is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1tcj6bUv98

If we're mentioning songs then I'd pick T..... & Beer by Frank Zappa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPO1QGhYDjM

Poland has a tale of "Pan Twardowski"(Mr Twardowski) about a man who made a pact with the devil for all kinds of powers, in exchange the devil said he will take Twardowski's soul if he ever sets his foot in Rome - since he didn't intend to visit Rome, he assumed this was the perfect deal. However the devil outwitted him, by coming for his soul in an inn called Rzym(Rome in Polish).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Twardowski

My favorite is the legend of the Devil's Bridge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schöllenen_Gorge where some Swiss hired the devil to build a bridge over a seemingly unbridgeable gorge, and then tricked him out of his payment.

I've referred to the devil as the Patron Unholy of Swiss engineering.

Here is a Norwegian tale of the Devil, in form of a traditional fiddle song. Music at the bottom, recommend playing it through once before reading the post. https://www.norskkornolfestival.no/2019/06/18/fanitullen/

In "The Master and Margarita", Pilate makes a hard-boiled metaphorical, not literal, deal with the devil.

I also love "The Master and Margarita"! Woland is a very compelling devil.

I love "The Grand Inquisitor" from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. It's not exactly a deal with the devil, but it does have some interesting parallels.

Full chapter: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/8578/8578-h/8578-h.htm Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Inquisitor

The Devil & Billy Markham Shel Silverstein Playboy January 1979

https://crazcowboy.tripod.com/Silverstein/markham.htm

The Twilight Zone episode, “I of Newton 666”, from 1985. Great ending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0ZRKSoN7Vg

Been fond of "La Chasse-galerie" for a while:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasse-galerie

Crossroads! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_(folklore)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqkBG22Tk8&pp=ygUYaG9tZXIgc2l...

Homers deal with Flanders as Satan, for a donut of course

"But I'm so sweet and tasty"

Stingy Jack (namesake for the Jack O'Lantern) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingy_Jack

Bob Dylan. Said he sold his soul to the Devil and promised to play til the end of his days

Phantom of the Paradise is a rock opera inspired by Faust.

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