The Bottle Imp

Robert Louis Stevenson, was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. "The Bottle Imp" is a short story. Offering an engrossing spin on a time-honored theme - the risky business of making a pact with the devil - his short story is a radiant jewel. It recounts the mercurial lot of Keawe, a Hawaiian who purchases a bottle inhabited by an imp capable of granting any wish. Yet this enticing object holds a dark curse: anyone who dies with it in his possession will burn forever in hell. And here's the rub: one can sell the bottle only for less than its purchase price. Keawe rids himself of the bottle after acquiring a palatial home. But when he needs it again to ensure his happiness with a newfound love, its cost is, chillingly, one cent, and the responsibility of ownership becomes a good deal more complex...