The Demon shrugged his shoulders.
"Then take the words of Mr. Shakespeare, to whom you all defer," he
replied. "Do you not remember that he says:
'Thy demon (that's thy spirit which keeps thee) is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable.'"
"Oh, if Shakespeare says it, that's all right," answered the boy.
"But it seems you're more like a genius, for you answer the summons of
the Master Key of Electricity in the same way Aladdin's genius
answered the rubbing of the lamp."
"To be sure. A demon is also a genius; and a genius is a demon," said
the Being. "What matters a name? I am here to do your bidding."
3. The Three Gifts
Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it. The great
general is only terrible to the enemy; the great poet is frequently
scolded by his wife; the children of the great statesman clamber about
his knees with perfect trust and impunity; the great actor who is
called before the curtain by admiring audiences is often waylaid at
the stage door by his creditors.
So Rob, having conversed for a time with the glorious Demon of
Electricity, began to regard him with more composure and less awe, as
his eyes grew more and more accustomed to the splendor that at first
had well-nigh blinded them.
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