Vivekananda Mailing List-1/29/03

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The man replied, " That is easy; I can give him work for all his life. "

Then he went to a forest, and after long repetition of the magic word,

a huge ghost appeared before him, and said, " I am a ghost. I have been

conquered by your magic; but you must keep me constantly employed. The

moment you fail to give me work I will kill you. " The man said, " Build

me a palace, " and the ghost said, " It is done; the palace is built. "

" Bring me money, " said the man. " Here is your money, " said the ghost.

" Cut this forest down, and build a city in its place. " " That is done, "

said the ghost, " anything more? " Now the man began to be frightened and

thought he could give him nothing more to do; he did everything in a

trice. The ghost said, " Give me something to do or I will eat you up. "

The poor man could find no further occupation for him, and was

frightened. So he ran and ran and at last reached the sage, and said,

" Oh, sir, protect my life! " The sage asked him what the matter was, and

the man replied, " I have nothing to give the ghost to do. Everything I

tell him to do he does in a moment, and he threatens to eat me up if I

do not give him work. " Just then the ghost arrived, saying, " I'll eat

you up, " and he would have swallowed the man. The man began to shake,

and begged the sage to save his life.