Which of You Shall I Take for the Money

I do not know in which house it happened, but happen it did, as J. V. Houška relates what he heard from his friend: “My grandfather lived at Vyšehrad in the house of a certain cobbler who had long dabbled in spells and magic. He talked several neighbours into conjuring up the devil with him to bring them money; my grandfather was among them. On the appointed day they all met at the cobbler's and he led them up to the loft; there they knelt in a circle and began to pray to Saint Corona. There were seven of them, and as they prayed the seventh time they heard a tremendous crackling and clamour coming up the stairs, and soon they all saw a little dwarf carrying a great sack of money on his back. He threw the sack down, hopped about them and cried in a snuffling voice: ‘Which of you shall I take for the money?’ He went round them once more, stopped at my grandfather, seized him by the collar and roared: ‘You!’ — ‘Jesus, Mary, Joseph!’ cried my grandfather, and fainted. At that there came a bang, bang, bang, and with a great din, as though the whole house were falling in, the evil spirit shot out of the dormer window with the money and left a fearful stench behind him. They carried my grandfather out half dead, the cobbler was seized with vomiting and the other conjurers with a pain in the belly that they could not be rid of for a long time.”