THE DEVIL'S SALE

There is a story that the devil once announced he was going out of business and offered to sell his tools to anyone who would pay the price. On the night of the sale, the tools were all attractively displayed. They were a nasty looking lot -- malice, hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit -- each marked with a price tag. A little off from the rest lay a harmless looking wedge-shaped tool, much worn, and priced higher than any of the others.

"What is it?" someone asked the devil.

"That's discouragement," he replied.

"Why is it priced so high?" the prospective customer asked.

"Because," said the devil, "it is more useful to me than any of the others. I can pry open and get inside a person with it when I could never get near him with any of the others. Once inside, I can use the person in whatever way it suits me best. That's why it is so worn, you see. I use it with nearly everybody, because few people yet know that it belongs to me."

It is probably not necessary to add that the devil's price for this tool was so high that there were no bidders. And he is still using it.

-- told by Colin McKay in Scouting (U.K.) magazine


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