The Drunk and The Devil

Dillon Dilly is an American, a construction worker, and a drunk. He was a rough-looking man with a long greasy brown hair and a scruffy beard. He would only work on his projects long enough to have enough money for booze and once he spent all his money on alcohol, he would return to his work.

Dillon was walking back to his home one day after a week-long bender when he said to himself, " I would sell my soul to the devil just to get more beer." At that moment, a tall, slender, black figure walked up to him and asked, "What did you say?"

"I said I would sell my soul to the devil for another drink".

The figure said, "How much do you want for seven years and at the end the devil will take your soul?"

Dillon replied " I am not sure. It would depend"

"How does $7,000 sound?"

"I'll take $7,000!"

"And the devil will take your soul at the end of the seven years?"

"Yes, I don't care about that."

When Dillon got back to his house he found the $7,000 in his safe in his closet. It was all new, crisp hundred dollar bills. He kept the money and opened his house to anyone in need of help. People would come and go and one of the regulars was a homeless man with a long white beard. The homeless man explained, "I haven't had anything to eat or drink in a couple days. Could you spare me food and water?"

Dillon said yes and the homeless man left after eating and drinking and went on with his day. The man would appear and disappear as he did in times before. On the third visit the homeless man told Dillon, "You have taken care of me three different times now. I will grant you three wishes, and they will surely come true."

Dillon began to think about what he wanted to wish for. As he came up with his three wishes he told the homeless man he was ready.

"First, I want to wish that whoever holds my hammer will continue to hammer until I tell them to stop."

The homeless man told him this was a bad wish and reminded him that he could wish for anything.

"Second, I wish for a bag that no one can take anything out of"

"Third, I wish that for whatever I put in the bag, it will refill when it is out."

The homeless man told Dillon that these were all bad wishes but he would grant them anyways.

As the seven years was coming to an end and Dillon was all out of money, the black figure reappeared and told Dillon that he could have as much money as he wanted until the day the devil came to claim his debt.

So, Dillon headed to the local bar and placed a bag in the center of a table. He said, "Fill this bag with as much money as it can fit." As he said that, a big flash of light popped and all of a sudden the bag was filled with one-hundred-dollar bills. He gave each person in the bar one hundred dollars and they were all certainly amazed by what they had witness and the gift they received.

The next morning was the day the devil would come to collect his soul. Dillon was hammering pieces of wood together finishing up building a house.

The Devil said, "Well, Dillon, I have come to take you".

Dillon agreed, but he asked the devil to grab his hammer and help him finish nailing the wood together. So the devil grabbed his hammer and realized that he could stop hammering nails into the wood. The devil had been tricked and was very angry and began to scream a blood-curdling scream.

Dillon laughed and left the devil as he was put on display for everyone to see. Dillon kept drinking and drinking as he now had unlimited money to buy his precious alcohol. Eventually, Dillon drank himself to his death bed and died from alcohol poisoning. The devil and Dillon both lost.

Author's Note:

This story is from a Welsh fairy tale: Billy Duffy and The Devil. The original story is of a blacksmith named Billy Duffy who is a drunkard. He runs into a man who says he can sell himself to the devil in exchange for money and after seven years the devil would come to collect his debt. Billy agrees and goes home to find the money. He helps a hermit three different times and in exchange the hermit grants Billy three wishes. Billy's wishes confuse the hermit because he is later setting up to trick the devil. The devil comes to collect Billy and Billy and hands him his anvil and one of his wishes was that anyone who touches it will not be able to stop hammering. The devil was tricked and billy prevailed.

I changed the story to a man named Dillon Dilly. He was also a drunk who sold his soul to the devil for another drink. I changed the hermit to a homeless man and I switched around his three wishes some. I changed it to a more modern version in America and the occupation to a construction worker instead of a blacksmith. Dillon still tricked the devil to holding his hammer like the devil grabbed the anvil.

Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter H. Emerson; Billy Duffy and The Devil