Question of the day:
Would you sell your soul to the Devil in order to save your lover's soul?
Answer:
I would sell my soul 10,000 times in order to save Thomas's soul.
The Bottle Imp
by Robert Louis Stevenson
(paraphrased by me)
I read a story of a man named Keawe from Hawaii. He bought a glass bottle for $50. Now this was no ordinary bottle; this bottle was crafted in the fires of Hell itself and it housed an imp who would grant wishes. The owner of the bottle could wish for as many things as he (or she) desired. The only thing the imp could not grant was eternal life. There was, of course, a catch to this wonderful bottle. If the owner died while still in possession of the bottle he would be damned to Hell for all eternity. Also the owner had to sell the bottle for less than he had bought it for.
Now Keawe had this bottle and he wished for a grand house. And low and behold he soon had the house of his dreams. But Keawe didn’t want to be a damned man and sold the bottle for $49. He soon met a beautiful girl named Kokua and they quickly fell in love with each other. But to Keawe’s horror he found a patch of leprosy on his leg. Keawe was a good man and wouldn’t think of giving the poor girl the dreadful disease, but neither would he break her heart. So his mind traveled to the bottle of the damned. He went in search for that dreaded bottle and after going to tens of people finally found the man who was in possession of the bottle. This man begged Keawe to buy the bottle from him, and when Keawe asked for the price he found why the man was so desperate to get rid of the bottle. He had bought it for only 2¢, which meant that the next buyer would be a damned man. But Keawe loved Kokua so very much, and so with trembling hands he purchased the bottle from the man for 1¢. When he got hame he wished to be clean and once again the imp granted his wish.
Keawe and Kokua were soon married. But the damnation of Keawe’s soul never left his mind. Soon Kokua thought she was the reason her husband was sad and confronted him in tears. Keawe told Kokua about his bottle and the plight of his soul. Kokua smiled and told her beloved husband not to worry, for the currencies in other lands had values smaller then 1¢. But she cried when she learned he was damned for her. The couple left Hawaii in search of someone who would buy the bottle.
They ended up in Tahiti where they tried to sell the bottle, but to no avail. Finally in desperation poor Kokua found an old man and persuaded him to buy the bottle and she would buy it back from him for 10¢. Thus Kokua saved the soul of the man she loved. But now her soul was damned and she couldn’t show her fear to her husband. So she would cry alone at night when he was out on the town. But one night Keawe came home early and saw Kokua looking at the bottle. He quickly realized what had happened and decided to buy the bottle from her the same way she had for him. Keawe found a sailor near the beach and told him about the bottle. Then he told the sailor to buy the bottle from Kokua for 5¢ and he would buy it from him for 1¢. The sailor didn’t really believe in the story of the bottle, but he went and bought it from the girl anyways. He came back to Keawe drunk as hell (for he asked the imp for a beer every time he finished one) and refused to sell the bottle back to him. Keawe, being a kind man tried to warn the man but the sailor just said that he was going to be damned anyways so it didn’t matter to him. Thus Keawe and Kokua were free of the dreaded bottle of the damned. | 
