Genie
Abhidevananda
sought out the guru who lived on the mountaintop.
After the man explained his situation, the guru offered him the
services of a powerful genie. The guru explained that this genie could
provide anything the man might wish for, but with one drawback. The
genie is always hungry; whenever idle, he tends to eat his master."
The man said this would be no problem because he had no end of work for
the genie.
Immediately on returning the man started giving commands to the genie.
The genie served his master faithfully. Within a very short time, the
man had a large and comfortable house, a healthy bank balance, a
charming wife, well-behaved children ... and he found himself running
out of things to ask for.
Then one day the man noticed the genie observing him with an unusual
cast in his eye. Was the genie actually drooling?
With great alarm the man ran back up the mountain for another
consultation with the guru. "Oh guru, what am I to do now? I fear the
genie may eat me any day as I can no longer keep him busy like before."
The guru replied, "You will have to give the genie an unending task.
Tell him to climb up and down a tree continuously until he receives
permission to stop."
When the man commanded the genie in this fashion, the genie obeyed. But
eventually, the genie grew tired of this repetitive task. To escape the
routine, the genie agreed to go and come on demand.