One day, Paracelsus was walking along when he heard a voice calling out for help. He looked around and found that the voice came from inside a fir tree. Going closer, he saw that it seemed to have a hole in its trunk, sealed with a lid that had three crosses on it. It was a spirit imprisoned in the tree! But Paracelsus said he would set it free only if it gave him two things: a medicine to cure all illnesses and a potion that could turn anything into gold. The spirit promised and Paracelsus pried open the lid using his knife. A dreadful black spider crawled out of the hole and changed into a tall ugly man wearing a large cloak. The spirit took Paracelsus up a steep mountainside, where it struck the ground with a twig of a hazel tree. With a thunderclap, the ground split open and the spirit vanished into it!
The Spirit Imprisoned
Paracelsus waited, wondering where the spirit had gone. But he came back carrying two little bottles, one with a golden liquid to turn anything into gold, and another with the medicine to cure all ills. He gave them to Paracelsus, and then told him that he had been cursed and imprisoned in the tree by a magician for being an evil spirit. This made Paracelsus very wary. They went back to the tree and Paracelsus said, “I wonder how such a large spirit could go into such a tiny hole!” The spirit laughed at him and changed into a spider again and crawled into the hole. Paracelsus had kept the lid and, as soon as the evil spirit went into the hole, he shut it tightly and drew three crosses on the lid! The spirit shouted and screamed, but Paracelsus didn’t open the lid. The potions were good and he went on to become a famous physician.
