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The Bishop and the Devil
Relates in verse the journey of the fourth-century Bishop of Sion as he traveled over the Alps carrying an enormous church bell.
- GenresChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
7 people want to read
About the author
Ian Serraillier
86 books96 followersIan Serraillier was a British novelist and poet. He was also appreciated by children for being a storyteller retelling legends from Rome, Greece and England. Serraillier was best known for his children's books, especially The Silver Sword (1956), a wartime adventure story which was adapted for television by the BBC in 1957 and again in 1971.
He was born in London, the eldest of four children. His father died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic when he was only six years old. He was educated at Brighton College, and took his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and became an English teacher. He taught at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire from 1936 to 1939; at Dudley Grammar School in Worcestershire from 1939 to 1946; and at Midhurst Grammar School in West Sussex from 1946 to 1961. As a Quaker, he was granted conscientious objector status in World War II.
In 1946 his first children’s novel was published. It was followed by several more adventure stories of treasure and spies. His best known work, The Silver Sword, was published in 1956 and has become a classic, bringing to life the story of four refugee children. Three of the children are siblings: Ruth, Edek and Bronia. Jan is another of the many Warsaw war orphans who somehow had met their father, and then fainted near the bombed out basement which served as home for the siblings, and was taken in by them. The four joined together in their search for the siblings' parents in the chaos of Europe immediately after the Second World War. In the United States the book was published under the title Escape from Warsaw.
As well as children’s novels and poetry, Serraillier produced his own retellings of classic tales in prose and verse, including Beowulf, Chaucer and Greek myths. Together with his wife, Anne Margaret Rogers, he founded the New Windmill Series in 1948, published by Heinemann Educational Books, which set out to provide inexpensive editions of good stories. He continued as co-editor of the series until the onset of Alzheimer's disease in the early 1990s. The illness finally contributed towards his death in November 1994 at the age of 82.
He was born in London, the eldest of four children. His father died as a result of the 1918 flu pandemic when he was only six years old. He was educated at Brighton College, and took his degree at St Edmund Hall, Oxford and became an English teacher. He taught at Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire from 1936 to 1939; at Dudley Grammar School in Worcestershire from 1939 to 1946; and at Midhurst Grammar School in West Sussex from 1946 to 1961. As a Quaker, he was granted conscientious objector status in World War II.
In 1946 his first children’s novel was published. It was followed by several more adventure stories of treasure and spies. His best known work, The Silver Sword, was published in 1956 and has become a classic, bringing to life the story of four refugee children. Three of the children are siblings: Ruth, Edek and Bronia. Jan is another of the many Warsaw war orphans who somehow had met their father, and then fainted near the bombed out basement which served as home for the siblings, and was taken in by them. The four joined together in their search for the siblings' parents in the chaos of Europe immediately after the Second World War. In the United States the book was published under the title Escape from Warsaw.
As well as children’s novels and poetry, Serraillier produced his own retellings of classic tales in prose and verse, including Beowulf, Chaucer and Greek myths. Together with his wife, Anne Margaret Rogers, he founded the New Windmill Series in 1948, published by Heinemann Educational Books, which set out to provide inexpensive editions of good stories. He continued as co-editor of the series until the onset of Alzheimer's disease in the early 1990s. The illness finally contributed towards his death in November 1994 at the age of 82.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 5, 2023
Ah, a disappointment! The Devil, my favourite Swiss city Sion (totally off the radar, and totally worth a visit!!), and a myth - should be great, right?!
I hate the poetry(?! rhyme scheme? Whatever - it seemed artless to me), I dislike the illustrations, and it jarred horribly with my own views on Christianity (I personally ascribe to the original Messianic Judaic gospel, and not anything that grew from Rome's adoption and assimilation of the early Christian church which was made up of Jewish heretics and the odd grafted-in Gentile).
Okay, that explanatory theological framework in place, I found the the whole "let's make a pact with the Devil simply for convenience - it's okay, we'll simply outplay him at his own game!", as sanctioned by the Pope and therefore, um, God, somewhat, err, challenging, faith-wise. (Why not just, you know, humbly book passage on a wagon train back through the Alps? What's the rush, if you first walked from Sion over the Alps all the way down to Rome anyway?! Also, and I can't stress this enough - there are dioceses stretching all the way from point A to B without a gap... surely there are Roman roads and ecclesiastical infrastructure in place to take advantage of as a Bishop!). Also, couldn't the Vatican effortlessly shell out a little more gold from their boastful coffers?
Alright, theology aside here (but can I throw that entirely to the wind in such a tale?), this was thin.. There's another, much better known Devil-based folktale from Alpine Switzerland at Göschenen (near Andermatt) - I think almost everyone knows the tale of the Devil's Bridge (the Devil will help build this impossible bridge, but at a price - the soul of the first one crossing it). Even today you can go and see the bridge (rebuilt several times - perhaps it is cursed!) and the Devil's Stone (der Teufelsstein): https://www.andermatt.ch/en/attractio...
That old myth (and its many versions - I've even read one set in Prague) has less that is theologically, um, inconsistent with it. There was just something about this one that really grated on me. It might be because I'm not Catholic (will have to ask some friends of mine for their views!).
Irrespective of theology, it's just not a particularly good story for a picture book in practice (though I can see why the subject matter at first appealed greatly! Setting is great (why on Earth didn't they depict the beautiful city of Sion?! Or, you know, almost any of the mountain passes, or even the most beautiful Eternal City of Rome?!), the Devil is always an exciting villain (the archest of the arch!), and the challenge of getting a giant brass bell from Rome to the Rhone Valley should lend itself well to story-telling), and the illustrations were clumsy. But worst of all was the text - even I glazed over and started to lose focus. Goodness knows how a kid would find it.
A free read on OpenLibrary. Recommended only to students of mythology or theology, because it doesn't really appeal at all in any other way. :S
EDIT: I worry that this review sounds decidedly anti-Catholic, and I want to make an addendum to state that this is not at all my intention. IF this story had gone thusly:
- The Bishop (and I'd prefer one less wealthy and more generous to the people of his Bisophric) goes to Rome to seek help
- The Pope, caring greatly for the souls not attending Mass, gifts to the Bishop a bell, and sees that it gets to Sion (because he cares greatly for the people....)
- The Devil, attacking all of the Godly people of the world as he is wont to do, sees the bell and wishes to derail the plans of the Bishop and Pope, because, you know, wanting to keep the godless people for himself, finds all sorts of ways to waylay and disrupt passage of the bell to Sion
- Eventually, the Devil gets the upperhand, and the Bishop is forced (or tricked into) capitulating to his schemes
- The Bishop realises his danger and appeals to Heaven, who intercedes (insert any miraculous, Devil-beating magic here)
- The people of Sion get a bell and all is well
- Some cute afterword on the legacy of Sion's bell.
This I would have no problems with. But this is not how the story goes. :p
I hate the poetry(?! rhyme scheme? Whatever - it seemed artless to me), I dislike the illustrations, and it jarred horribly with my own views on Christianity (I personally ascribe to the original Messianic Judaic gospel, and not anything that grew from Rome's adoption and assimilation of the early Christian church which was made up of Jewish heretics and the odd grafted-in Gentile).
Okay, that explanatory theological framework in place, I found the the whole "let's make a pact with the Devil simply for convenience - it's okay, we'll simply outplay him at his own game!", as sanctioned by the Pope and therefore, um, God, somewhat, err, challenging, faith-wise. (Why not just, you know, humbly book passage on a wagon train back through the Alps? What's the rush, if you first walked from Sion over the Alps all the way down to Rome anyway?! Also, and I can't stress this enough - there are dioceses stretching all the way from point A to B without a gap... surely there are Roman roads and ecclesiastical infrastructure in place to take advantage of as a Bishop!). Also, couldn't the Vatican effortlessly shell out a little more gold from their boastful coffers?
"What use were clever sermons, a church paved with papal wealth, when the sum congregation was the barnyard and himself?"and for the Bishop's beloved chickens,
...
Vatican palace: "O treasury of riches, warmth and beauty multiform ! Out of the cruel night his fingers glowed ; how fast his heart beat as he knelt subservient at his Holiness’ feet! At last he raised his eyes, all wonder at the hall flaked with dragon scales, the ivory pillars and jewelled tables, mysterious tapestries, walls that masters of astronomy the dotted galaxy, sun and moon had pictured with the universe by Ptolemy —planetary signs, crescents, zodiacs, and many astronomical knick-knacks. Oh, let me not swoon,’ murmured the Bishop"
"The Bishop treated them as sons and daughters, so loving them he built their quarters as splendid as his castle. A Persian carpenter made furniture of cedarwood, perches of slender silver birch, while a master potter from Pekin moulded beds of alabaster."I'll risk a little sermonizing when I quote "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". Jesus eschewed wealth. Dude wore sandals and was homeless... Ahem. (So I have my own personal distastes at play, as well, to be transparent).
Alright, theology aside here (but can I throw that entirely to the wind in such a tale?), this was thin.. There's another, much better known Devil-based folktale from Alpine Switzerland at Göschenen (near Andermatt) - I think almost everyone knows the tale of the Devil's Bridge (the Devil will help build this impossible bridge, but at a price - the soul of the first one crossing it). Even today you can go and see the bridge (rebuilt several times - perhaps it is cursed!) and the Devil's Stone (der Teufelsstein): https://www.andermatt.ch/en/attractio...
That old myth (and its many versions - I've even read one set in Prague) has less that is theologically, um, inconsistent with it. There was just something about this one that really grated on me. It might be because I'm not Catholic (will have to ask some friends of mine for their views!).
Irrespective of theology, it's just not a particularly good story for a picture book in practice (though I can see why the subject matter at first appealed greatly! Setting is great (why on Earth didn't they depict the beautiful city of Sion?! Or, you know, almost any of the mountain passes, or even the most beautiful Eternal City of Rome?!), the Devil is always an exciting villain (the archest of the arch!), and the challenge of getting a giant brass bell from Rome to the Rhone Valley should lend itself well to story-telling), and the illustrations were clumsy. But worst of all was the text - even I glazed over and started to lose focus. Goodness knows how a kid would find it.
A free read on OpenLibrary. Recommended only to students of mythology or theology, because it doesn't really appeal at all in any other way. :S
EDIT: I worry that this review sounds decidedly anti-Catholic, and I want to make an addendum to state that this is not at all my intention. IF this story had gone thusly:
- The Bishop (and I'd prefer one less wealthy and more generous to the people of his Bisophric) goes to Rome to seek help
- The Pope, caring greatly for the souls not attending Mass, gifts to the Bishop a bell, and sees that it gets to Sion (because he cares greatly for the people....)
- The Devil, attacking all of the Godly people of the world as he is wont to do, sees the bell and wishes to derail the plans of the Bishop and Pope, because, you know, wanting to keep the godless people for himself, finds all sorts of ways to waylay and disrupt passage of the bell to Sion
- Eventually, the Devil gets the upperhand, and the Bishop is forced (or tricked into) capitulating to his schemes
- The Bishop realises his danger and appeals to Heaven, who intercedes (insert any miraculous, Devil-beating magic here)
- The people of Sion get a bell and all is well
- Some cute afterword on the legacy of Sion's bell.
This I would have no problems with. But this is not how the story goes. :p
July 14, 2025
An unusual tale, written as a poem, that tells a story about a Bishop who goes to Rome and receives a enormous church bell from the Pope in order to gather his flock to worship. How he is going to get the bell home over mountain ranges presents a problem until the devil offers his help at a price. The Bishop outwits the devil, and all is well. I really can't imagine reading this to a child, but the eccentricity of the story and the jerky rhythm and verse certainly have some interest.
February 21, 2016
An interesting story, based on legend, but the mix of convoluted text and simplistic cartoonish illustrations is odd.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews