Merlin, the man of magic

It is related—but only God knows the full truth—that in the early days of Christianity, the Devil, the enemy of our Lord, was incensed upon seeing the success of the new religion of Jesus.  The number of good people leading saintly lives increased every day, in spite of the danger and poverty that were the results of the great migrations and the fall of pagan Rome.  So Satan devised a plan by which a man would be born with the ability to counteract the good works of the Christians.  He himself would be that man’s father.

As mother for the new man, Satan chose a young maiden, a good girl who lived a life of piety and devotion in a lonely house where she was visited only by her father confessor, a kindhearted monk of great wisdom and honesty.

One day, the Devil sent to the girl an old woman, who told her it was a shame that she was living there all on her own, without a nice man to keep her company night and day.  “Look at your pretty body, it is all going to waste.  Shame!”  Thus chattered the old woman, for whom only the pleasures of youth were worth talking about.  That night the girl looked at her body, thinking that the old woman was perhaps right; but the next day, when she told everything to her confessor, the wise monk perceived that the Devil was playing a game with her.  He told her: “My daughter, be very careful never to be angry, never to despair.  Make the sign of the cross when rising and when going to sleep, and always have a light in your room, for the Devil loves to work in the dark.”

Now this girl had a sister who was a loose woman.  One day she suddenly arrived, accompanied by two mischievous young men.  They uttered such shameless talk that the pious girl grew angry and told them to get out.  Her sister protested that she was in their parents’ house, which belonged just as much to herself.  The young men gave the good girl a nasty beating, so that she had to escape to her room, locking the door.  There she fell on her bed, sobbing and despairing until she fell asleep.  It was in that night that the Devil came to visit her, because he knew that she had forgotten all the lessons of her good counselor. She had neglected to light a candle, she had lost her temper, she was in despair, and she had not crossed herself before going to sleep.