The Devil’s Gospel of the Miner

There were two gospels: one of Christ and one of the devil. Two young miners who had received their wages on Saturday went together to the market. At a bookshop one of the boys was given a free booklet written in French.

The boy put the booklet in his pocket without thinking about it further. He could not read French and considered it a nice souvenir.

Three weeks later the boy was out walking with his friend. Along the way he encountered a Walloon who accidentally bumped into his left arm. The boy cried out furiously: “You dirty Walloon, I will get you yet!”

A little further on the Walloon suddenly fell to the ground because his bicycle had broken in two. The boy’s friend realised that something was wrong and advised him to visit the parish priest.

The priest examined the boy and discovered the spell book. He freed the boy from his unwitting sorcery. The priest warned that very few clergymen remained who could read out a sorcerer.

There were only a handful left, in Heusden, Hasselt, Lommel and Diest. A layperson could also try with holy water and a blessed candle specially made against spiritism. The boy destroyed the booklet and lived a normal life from then on.