Penguin Island · Chapter
III: The Temptation of Saint Maël explained
The Devil, disguised as the monk Samson, tempts Saint Maël to rig his miraculous stone trough with a sail, mast, and rudder to speed his journey to the island of Hoedic, where his former catechumens have returned to paganism and threaten th
What happens
The Devil, disguised as the monk Samson, tempts Saint Maël to rig his miraculous stone trough with a sail, mast, and rudder to speed his journey to the island of Hoedic, where his former catechumens have returned to paganism and threaten the chapel. Maël, torn between trusting divine providence and acting with human prudence, is persuaded by the Devil's arguments and reluctantly agrees to the modifications.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Religion
The Devil, disguised as a monk, uses theological reasoning to tempt a saint, mocking religious piety and the concept of miracles.
Human Folly and Vanity
Maël's pride in his own prudence and his susceptibility to the Devil's flattery reveal human folly.
Characters to notice
- Saint Maël
The holy abbot, tempted by the Devil to rig his miraculous stone trough for a faster voyage to Hoedic.
- St. Samson
The Devil appears in the guise of the monk Samson to tempt Saint Maël.
Key passages
“Father, the inhabitants of the island of Hoedic commit sins unceasingly. Every moment that passes removes them farther from God. They are soon going to use violence towards the chapel that you have raised with your own venerable hands on the shore of their island. Time is pressing. Do you not think that your stone trough would carry you more quickly towards them if it were rigged like a boat and furnished with a rudder, a mast, and a sail, for then you would be driven by the wind?”
The Devil, as Samson, urges Maël to equip his stone trough with a sail and rudder to reach the sinful islanders faster and prevent them from destroying the chapel.
The Devil's temptation uses urgency and practical reasoning to undermine faith in the miraculous.
“Father, if you lost your right foot and God restored it to you, would not that foot be miraculous? ... Would you put a shoe on it? ... Well, then, if you believe that one may cover a miraculous foot with a natural shoe, you should also believe that we can put natural rigging on a miraculous boat.”
The Devil argues that just as a miraculously restored foot can be shod naturally, a miraculous boat can be fitted with natural rigging.
This syllogism parodies theological casuistry and the rationalization of divine intervention.