“I am mighty Mercurius! Whoever releases me, him I must strangle!”

Idiot! Why did I say that to the fellow? I do not seem to be able to curb my own bravado. Then, to make it worse, I had to prove myself!

“Ha! You don’t believe that a genius like me can turn myself into vapor and fly back into the bottle? Just watch me!”

He corked me up as soon as I got back in the vial, and who can blame him? The only reward I offered the poor fellow was death!

Spirit in the Bottle in The Spirit in the Bottle, Grimms. Vintage advertisement.