Never Bet the Devil Your Head, often subtitled "A Tale with a Moral", is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1841. The satirical tale pokes fun at the notion that all literature should have a moral and spoofs transcendentalism. At the beginning of this tale, the narrator warns his friend, about the consequences of foolish bets. Toby Dammit was a man who was very confident in actions he may or may not have attempted. Eventually, he resorted to betting the devil his head, to prove himself. The narrator constantly warned him about the dangers of betting something of such importance, but Toby was too stubborn to heed a warning. Toby Dammit was a boy who was 'different' because of his childhood. His mother constantly beat him as a young boy. Unfortunately, in the manner that his mother flogged him, it was believed to be unorthodox because she was left-handed. In the story, the narrator states that because the world turns right to left, the change in direction caused bad fortune on Toby's life. As time passed, Toby soon began growing worse every day and made bad choices in his life which included: swearing and careless bets to support his assertions. To be further analyzed, Toby Dammit can be related to the phrase "to be damned', which explicitly gives an idea of Toby's soon to be misfortunes. Enjoy free online English audiobook “Never Bet the Devil Your Head”, a novel by Edgar Allan Poe.
