Robert Louis Stevenson’s #shortstory “The Bottle Imp” was first published (in English) #OTD, 8 Feb 1891, in the New York Herald. It was originally published in #Samoan translation as “O le Fagu Aitu” in the missionary magazine O le sulu Samoa (The Samoan Torch)
Interesting for all sorts of reasons—a #Hawaiian protagonist, a strong female character—“The Bottle Imp” is wonderfully elegant, & moves like a Swiss watch. It also contains a paradox, which arguably undermines Rational Choice Theory in #economics
… to the trick-taking #cardgame FLASCHENTEUFEL, where the person left holding the bottle at the end of the game loses (& possibly goes to Hell, the rules are unclear on that point) …
You can download our free ebook of “The Bottle Imp” (also containing two other supernatural masterpieces by Stevenson, “Thrawn Janet” & “The Tale of Tod Lapraik”) from our website …
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