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"It is not so easy to work with the brain," the old devil said.
"You will not give me anything to eat because my hands have not the
appearance of being toil-hardened, but you must understand that it is
much harder to do brain-work, and sometimes the head feels like bursting
with the effort it is forced to make."
"
Then why do you not select some light work that you can perform with
your hands?" Ivan asked.
The devil said: "I torment myself with brain-work because I have pity
for you fools, for, if I did not torture myself, people like you would
remain fools for all eternity. I have exercised my brain a great deal
during my life, and now I am able to teach you."
Ivan was greatly surprised and said: "Very well; teach us, so that when
our hands are tired we can use our heads to replace them."
The devil promised to instruct the people, and Ivan announced the fact
throughout his kingdom.
The devil was willing to teach all those who came to him how to use the
head instead of the hands, so as to produce more with the former than
with the latter.
In Ivan's kingdom there was a high tower, which was reached by a long,
narrow ladder leading up to the balcony, and Ivan told the old devil
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