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Stories of the Devil on the Ark are widespread in Europe, the Middle East, and Russia, especially in Slavic regions. As reviewed by Utley, major components of these stories are (1) Noah is told to build the ark in secret; (2) secrecy is miraculously aided, as by a noiseless hammer; (3) the Devil gets Noah's wife to give Noah an intoxicating drink; (4) Noah tells his secret, and the Devil destroys the ark; (5) an angel tells Noah how to undo the damage, for example by a gong which calls the scattered boards together again; (6) the gong is used to assemble the animals; (7) the Devil is barred from entering the ark, but Noah is tricked into inviting him; (8) the Devil, often as a mouse, bores a hole in the hull; (9) the hole is stopped by the snake, or a cat is created to catch the mouse; (10) the snake is rewarded. None of the stories contain all of these elements, though. This one is concerned mostly with points 3 and 7.

Here I summarize a play published in The History of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1736, though it probably dates from the mid-fifteenth century.

God, grieved by the evils of the world, vowed to send a flood to destroy everyone except Noah and his family, and he sent an angel to tell Noah to build an Ark. Noah complained that he is an old man of 600 years with no experience at ship craft, but he would do what he must.

The Devil, knowing of Noah's work, went to Noah's wife and told her that her husband was working on something that threatened the lives of her and her children. He gave her a strong drink which would cause Noah to reveal his secret.

Noah, weary from his labor, came home and accepted the drink. His wife asked what he was doing, and under the influence of the drink, he told her that God bade him make a ship, as the world would be destroyed with storms.

"God has slighted you," the wife replied. "For you to make such a ship, and you not a wright, men should hear of it far and wide."

"It is God's will," Noah said. "Let be; it is not for you to say. I will make an end despite my troubles."

"I do not know whether thou be friend or foe. Take the devil to ship when you go."

Noah prayed for help in finishing the ship, and the angels provided it.

Norman Davis, Non-Cycle Plays and Fragments (London: Oxford, 1970), pp. xl-xlvii, 19-31.

Francis Lee Utley, "The Devil in the Ark (AaTh 825)," in Dundes, 1988, 337-356. Reprinted from Internationaler Kongress der Volkserzahlungsforscher in Kiel und Kopenhagen (Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 1961), 446-463.