The Archbishop of Heligoland believes his faith, and it makes him so
unhappy that he finds it impossible to advise any one to accept it. He
summons the Devil, makes a compact with him and is relieved by being made
to see that there was nothing in it—whereon he is very good and happy and
leads a most beneficent life, but is haunted by the thought that on his
death the Devil will claim his bond. This terror grows greater and
greater, and he determines to see the Devil again.
The upshot of it all is that the Devil turns out to have been Christ who
has a dual life and appears sometimes as Christ and sometimes as the
Devil. {235}
XVI
Written Sketches