This discovery shocked the Devil. He investigated the evil more closely, and saw that it was spreading rapidly. Some cases were simply incomprehensible, like that of a Levantine apothecary who had slowly poisoned a whole generation and then, with the profits of his nefarious trade, had come to the aid of his victims’ children. In Cairo, the Devil found an otherwise impeccable camel thief covering his face so that he could attend the mosque. The Devil confronted him at the entrance to the mosque and berated him for such outrageous behavior, but the man denied everything, saying he was only going there so as to steal a dragoman’s camel; indeed, he did steal it, in full view of the Devil, but then gave it as a present to a muezzin, who prayed to Allah on the thief’s behalf. The Benedictine manuscript cites many other extraordinary discoveries, including the following one that completely confounded the Devil. One of his best apostles was a Calabrian gentleman, fifty years old and an eminent forger of documents, who owned a fine house in the Roman Campagna filled with paintings, statues, a library, etc. He was fraud personified; he would even take to his bed so as not to admit that he was in good health. However, this man not only failed to cheat at cards, he even gave bonuses to his servants. Having attracted the friendship of a canon, he went to make his confession to him every week in a deserted side chapel, and although he did not reveal to him any of his secret activities, he crossed himself twice, once upon kneeling and again when he stood up. The Devil could scarcely believe such treachery, but there was no doubting what had happened.

He did not stop for an instant. The shock gave him no time to reflect, to draw comparisons, or to infer from the present situation something analogous in the past. Once again he flew straight up to Heaven, trembling with rage, anxious to discover the hidden cause of such a peculiar occurrence. God listened to him with infinite benevolence, not interrupting or criticizing him, or even gloating over his satanic agony. He looked the Devil straight in the eye and said:

“Well, what do you expect, my poor Devil? The cotton cloaks now have silk fringes, just as the velvet cloaks had cotton ones. What do you expect? It’s the eternal human contradiction.”

Final Chapter

FINAL CHAPTER