Two Devils

Two young devils, after years of separation, met one evening to take a stroll. Both were eager to find out what the other had learned in his experience tempting mortals to sin. Though, as is the case with friends, one was more eager than the other, and it was this first devil that proposed the question.

            “If you had the choice,” he said, “between tempting a bright young man to sell his soul for power and tempting a beautiful young woman to sell her body for money, which would you choose?”

            “Easy,” replied his overconfident friend, “I’d choose the young man. I’d be winning a soul, whereas, in the latter case, I’d be gaining nothing but wealth. And as we all know, a soul is a very substantial thing, whereas wealth is nothing but an illusion.”