There is a legend among the people of Goa that the patron of lawyers is the devil. This legend is not older than four centuries, for the devil came to Goa with the Portuguese conquistadores in 1510.

Now, all the trades and professions in Goa had succeeded in choosing a particular and appropriate patron from among the saints of Christian tradition. For two long days the lawyers were engaged in a heated and continuous debate of the choice of the most appropriate patron saint for their profession. They had met in the parochial assembly hall. All along the four walls of the hall there stood the images of the different saints, from among whom the patron was to be chosen.

The lawyers, clad in black gowns, sat in concourse in the middle of the hall, and one by one rose to speak and put up his candidate for general approval. Morning wore into noon, noon browned into evening, evening darkened into night, and still the debate would not end. Three days passed, and each lawyer made vehement attacks on the demerits of his predecessor’s choice and proposed his own candidate with an eloquent and fulsome speech of his merits. The slow hours of the night dragged on towards midnight.

One of the more impatient of the fraternity, who for some time had been flagrantly yawning, and now felt that he should move to the conclusion of sleep, stood up and said, “Honourable and Learned Gentlemen, long have we debated and discussed, and as usual expended our forensic energies on the otherwise profitable labour of demonstrating the whiteness of black, and the blackness of white. My submission, giving due consideration to the lateness of the hour, is that the only way to arrive at an irrevocable decision is to blindfold one of our elders here and let him choose one saint from among those standing along the walls of this hall. The one on whom he rests his hand finally shall be our patron.”

The suggestion met with general and immediate approval. In the meantime, however, the Devil, who was on his nightly prowl in the vicinity of the parochial hall, seeing the lighted hall and the concourse of black-coated gentry, had slipped into the room and stood between two of the images of the saints.

An elderly lawyer was blindfolded and turned loose in the room facing the wall. There was a general hush of silence. He groped his way and began his tour of the walls. He paused for a moment before one image, and then before another, and moved on undecided and thoughtful. From one to the other, and so on, till he completed one full round of the four walls of the room.

His companions watched him with bated breath, each hoping that the choice of his blindfolded colleague would confirm his own proposal. The hour was approaching midnight and he continued his round, keeping everyone in suspense. At the very stroke of midnight, he stood and put out his hand. Surprise and amazement was written on the faces of the darkly clad brotherhood.

The blindfolded lawyer was standing between two images, and his hand went forth into the apparently empty space, when lo and behold, his hand rested on a black and hairy head adorned with two horns. It was the Devil who had taken his stand between the images of the two saints. It was a fatal choice, but it was a contract with the Devil, and it was final.

And that is why they say that the patron of lawyers is the devil.

A Folktale sourced from The Wise Fools of Moira and Other Goan Folk Tales collected by Prof. Lucio Rodrigues.

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