User:Cmwidman/sandbox

La Diablesse is translated as the female devil in French. The people of Trinidad and Tobago also call La Diablesse Lajabless. The story of la Diablesse comes from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, where she is believed to be a creature that attracts men and harms them, at times leading them to their death or just leading them into a confused state.

=Appearance:=

La Diablesse appears in many different forms. Including a tall, handsome Creole woman, a beautiful woman, and an old crone. Each of these appearances has different ways of luring their prey, the tall, handsome Creole woman passes through a cane or cocoa field at noon and attracts a man from there, the beautiful woman lures unsuspecting passersby to follow her, and the crone comes from behind a tree on a lonely road. Her beautiful appearances are perfect for attracting unfaithful men because a man is much more likely to be attracted to someone attractive. Her crone appearance is perfect for luring a man to help her where she can then take advantage of him. A consistency between the previously mentioned appearances is that she is sometimes seen with one cloven hoof, like that of a cow, one human foot, and might have chains rattling in her petticoats. No matter which form she appears in she is always wearing the traditional clothes of Trinidad and Tobago which include “a brilliant madras turban, chemise with half sleeves and much embroidery and lace, and ‘zepingue tremblant’ (trembling pins of gold).” She also wears a large hat to cover her decaying face and a long dress to hide her cloven foot.

=Function:=

La Diablesse comes out at night and preys on men where she stands on the side of a dark, lonely road and pretends to be in need of help. When a man decides to help her she leads him into the woods and eventually to their deaths by falling from a height, usually a cliff. Other people of Trinidad and Tobago believe that she is a seductress who leads men from their homes into the forest until they realize they were fooled, or she seduces unfaithful men and leads them into the forest and then abandons them in a thorn bush.

In Trinidad and Tobago, it is not uncommon to have a run-in with La Diablesse. One out of six men will claim to have had an encounter with her. These run-ins aren’t noteworthy until it happens to someone important in the community; this is the case with Henry Lamarre, a well-known and popular man. His story starts with an affair with a Grenadian woman until he grew bored of her. She had realized that he was bored with her and took her revenge at a ball they both attended. Lamarre entered the ball and within ten minutes a woman had caught his eye, a tall and full-figured woman, as he preferred. He shortly left the ball with the other woman and they walked to a garden and shared a kiss. However, during the kiss, he felt her face change from soft and human-like to that of stone and opened his eyes to see himself kissing skeleton. He was found the next morning in the same garden raving mad.

=Protection=

There is not much to protect against La Diablesse, although, according to residents of Trinidad and Tobago say, if one finds themself with someone they suspect to be La Diablesse they can take their clothes off, turn them inside out and put them back on. That should free someone from her spell. A way to avoid La Diablesse altogether is to be faithful in relationships because it is said that La Diablesse goes after inconstant men.

=Theme:= The lesson behind the tale is to avoid women when one is in a relationship. It is also advised to steer clear of women from Martinique and Grenada because the elders in Trinidad say that those women still have strong ancestral ties and can perform magic, therefore they are more likely to be able to channel the power of La Diablesse.