The Spirit in the Bottle

"'Let me out, let me out,' the spirit cried. And the boy, thinking no evil, drew the cork out of the bottle." - The Spirit in the Bottle

is inspired by the Grimm Brothers tale "The Spirit in the Bottle." The story follows a poor woodcutter and the woodcutter's son. The woodcutter saves all his earnings for a long while with hopes of providing his only son with an education, which he does for a time. But soon enough, the money runs out, and the boy is forced to abandon school. He instead goes with his father into the forest to cut trees and earn money. One day, while in the forest with his father, the boy walks off by himself and hears a voice calling for help. After a while, the boy finds that the voice is coming from a bottle buried underneath a tree. In the bottle is something that looks like a frog. The creature pleads with the boy to let him out of the bottle. Obeying the creature's request, the boy draws the cork from the bottle, and out comes a spirit nearly half as tall as the tree itself. The spirit laughs and explains to the boy that he was in the bottle as punishment and that he must strangle the unfortunate soul who sets him free. The boy manages to coerce the spirit back into the bottle and quickly cork it. The spirit is furious but pleads with the boy to let him out, promising that if he does, he will be rewarded richly. After some thought, the boy decides to release the spirit. The spirit remains true to his word and provides the boy with a gift that resembles a bag. The spirit explains to the boy that the bag has the power to turn any metal into silver and to heal any wound. All he has to do is rub the metal or the afflicted area with the bag. The boy thanks the spirit and goes off on his way. He provides for his father for the rest of his life and goes on to become the most famous and wealthy doctor in all of the land.