“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. 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 into the bottle, 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.