Let the devil make a twin

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angelene001

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Can someone explain this sentence to me?
Is it an idiom? Some kind of a saying?
I can't find it in any dictionary.

"A little man volunteered to stay and hold the camp while the others went for supplies. "There is only one of you - let the devil make a twin," they said as they left."

I can only guess that they want some supernatural power to help a little man with guarding the camp.
 

SlickVic9000

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I've never heard this expression and this thread is at the top of the results of a Google search on it. So evidently, this is a very original phrase. Your guess is as good as mine. Honestly, it seems like a rather bizarre statement to part with.
Out of curiosity, where did you find this passage?
 

angelene001

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It's from a book preparing to Matura, a Polish high-school exit exam. An exam in English at a basic level (B1) is a part of Matura.

The expression is from a reading task. The text is titled "A Tent in Agony" by Stephen Crane (adapted).
And here is the original text which I've found:
A Tent in Agony by Stephen Crane
 

5jj

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It's from a book preparing to Matura, a Polish high-school exit exam.
I just cannot understand why anyone would choose a text like that for an examination these days. No modern speaker of BrE or AmE would speak or write in that style.
 
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BobK

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It sounds to me like a transliterated idiom from another language - que el diablo te haga un gemelo or something like that. Note, this 'Spanish idiom' is my own invention; I've certainly never the idiom met before, in any language. The only idiom I know that involves the devil and pairs (of anything!) is 'The devil makes work for idle hands to do' [='children must be kept busy or they'll get up to mischief'].

b
 
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