The Devil and Miss Prym: The Nature of Man

A mysterious stranger wanders into the small mountain village of Viscos with eleven gold bars in his possession. He buries the first ten in a particular spot in the surrounding forest, and places the eleventh in a different location, all of this unbeknownst to the villagers. He then brings Miss Chantal Prym, a Viscos villager longing for the big city, into the forest with him and shows her the location of the gold bars. He then proposes a deal: if she can convince the townspeople to kill any nonspecific citizen in Viscos, the eleven gold bars with be turned over to the village, providing much-needed financial support for the town and its people. However, Miss Prym can also choose to steal one of the gold bars for herself. If the townspeople choose to act upon the stranger’s proposition, the stranger will conclude that all humans are evil. If Miss Prym chooses to steal the stranger’s gold (which is an easy means of escaping Viscos), he will conclude that both good and evil humans exist. He doesn’t bother mentioning a third outcome. Miss Prym internally debates for days whether to tell the villagers of the stranger’s deal, or to simply take the money and run out of fear they might choose to kill her. Eventually though, she tells the townspeople of the stranger’s twisted experiment, telling herself that the villagers are too kindhearted to commit such a horrendous act. As one may expect, she’s shocked when the people of Viscos ultimately nominate to kill Old Berta, an elderly widow deemed unnecessary to their society. Miss Prym is evidently unhappy with their decision, and attempts to figure out a way to stop it. Right before the villagers finally go to murder Berta, Miss Prym steps in and tells them to simply look at what they’re doing, and to ask themselves if it is truly justified. She convinces them to stop their murderous plans by reminding them that humans are not inherently good or bad, but that our nature depends on each person’s control and choices.
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