It happened once upon a time that a certain monk was making his way through the wilderness when he came upon two devils fighting. When they saw the monk, the devils stopped, and the monk asked them, “Poor miserable devils, why are you fighting?”

The devils explained that they had somehow come into possession of three items, and they could not agree how to share them or divide them.

“And what are the items for which you are fighting?”

The two devils indicated a small heap between them. There was a bowl, a stick and a pair of sandals.

“The bowl,” said one devil, “is Abundance itself – whatever you wish for appears in it.”

“The stick,” said the other, “is Victory – with it you can defeat any enemy.”

“And the sandals are Freedom, with them you can fly,” said the first devil.

“I see,” said the monk. “Then instead of fighting over these things, let me help you make peace. Allow me to decide how to apportion them, and then you will no longer need to fight each other.”

When the devils agreed to this, the monk said, “Please stand back, and let me examine the items.”

Then, after the devils stepped back, the monk picked up the stick, beat both devils to the ground, lifted up the bowl, and stepping into the sandals, flew away.

Thus the devils had no more cause to fight each other.