It happened once upon a time that a man made a discovery; he learned that if he were to perform certain rituals and ceremonies, it would propitiate a devil who would then do his bidding. Thinking that this would be to his advantage, he set to work, and in time accomplished the fulfilment of all that was required. Then, as expected, a devil appeared before him. This devil said, “I will obey your commands, but only on one condition. If at any time you do not give me work, I shall devour you. You must keep me occupied every moment of the night and day or be sure that I will eat you.”

The man thought that this was not a difficult condition to meet, and so he accepted. His first command was that the devil must build him a palace. Assuming that this would occupy the devil for days and weeks, he went to sit in the shade of a tree, but to his surprise, in a very short time the devil appeared again in front of him, and pointed to a magnificent, newly built palace.

“Now give me more work,” said the devil. “Or I will eat you.”

The man thought quickly and then said, “Build a road from the palace to the sea! Let it be as smooth as a table and wide enough for two carriages to pass!” As the sea was many days journey away, he thought that in this way he would not see the devil for a while.

But very soon, the devil returned, and said, “Your road is complete. Give me more work, or you shall be eaten. I am feeling hungry!” And it showed its hideous, sharp teeth.

The man began to feel panic. “A city!” he shouted, “There must be a city – but not near the palace. Far away! And very large!”

And when the devil went off to do its work, the man, now terrified, ran to a holy man in a nearby temple, and told him that he was the prisoner of a devil who would eat him if he did not keep it busy.

“It is not a difficult thing,” the holy man said. “Have the devil plant a bamboo pole, and then command it to run up and down the pole, calling the name of God at the top and the bottom, and to continue in this way until you tell it to stop.”

The man did this, and for a time the devil did its work, but it soon grew disgusted, and at a moment when the man was not looking it ran off and was never seen again.

Deeply relieved, the man went to offer thanks to the holy man. “Tell me, reverend sir, how did you know the right method to defeat the devil?”

The holy man smiled. “It is the same method we use to defeat every devil – repeating the sacred name, although they do not always climb up and down a pole.”