her stomach from digesting its food. She also told this to her husband,
and he became afraid of this myth, and told his friends that an evil,
or devil, had entered the body of his wife. His friends began to talk
about this evil, or devil, wondering what it might be. At length, after
discussing it for some time, they decided they didn't know what this
evil was, but that it ought to be given a name, so called it
indigestion, because it had stopped the woman's stomach from digesting
her food. In this way this imaginary thing became real enough to have
a name. After the people had given this evil, or devil, a name, they
all began to make suggestions of how best to get rid of him. One
suggested that a plate be made hot and applied to the stomach. This,
he thought, would make it so uncomfortable for the devil that he would
leave. Another suggested that the woman take a strong dose of peppermint
and burn the devil; another suggested that they manipulate the stomach,
i. e., pull and haul and pound it, hoping in this way to kill him;
another said, let us attach an electric battery and shock the devil.
Another said he believed that devils had an aversion for blue lights,
and thought that if they would let a blue light shine on him, he would
leave. Another said, give the woman a bath of mud, let her be covered
all over with soft mud, and this will smother the devil. Still another
suggested that the woman be sent away from home to another climate,
he thinking the devil might not like the change, and so leave the
woman. Hundreds of other suggestions were offered and tried, but none
of them succeeded in driving this devil out of the woman. And now, after
several thousands of years, the people are still offering advice to
this woman, but with no better success. The simple reason why all these
things did not succeed in driving out this evil, or devil, is that in
reality there wasn't any devil to drive out, as it was only an imaginary
thing and had no existence, only as an illusion in the mind of the
woman. About 2,000 years ago, there lived a man who was intelligent