A pious man owned a large tree in his garden. The tree was beautiful, its shade deep and cool — and a demon lived in it. This was not unusual in the ancient world. The sages accepted that demons inhabited certain trees, ruins, and abandoned places, coexisting uneasily with the human world.
The trouble was that travelers would rest beneath the tree, attracted by its shade, and in doing so they would trample the pious man's field, destroying his crops. The tree that sheltered a demon also sheltered people — and both were ruining his livelihood.
The pious man decided to cut the tree down. But the demon objected. "Do not destroy my home," the demon said. "If you spare the tree, I will pay you. Every day, you will find coins beneath its roots."
The man considered the offer. Money for doing nothing — it seemed like a good deal. But then he thought more carefully. If he accepted payment from a demon in exchange for preserving its dwelling, he would be entering into a compact with a spiritual being — and that, the sages taught, was a form of idol worship. You do not make deals with demons. You do not profit from their presence. You do not allow them to buy a permanent home in your garden.
The pious man refused the money and cut the tree down. Beneath the roots, he found a rich treasure — gold and silver that had been buried there long before the demon took up residence. God had rewarded his refusal to compromise. The man who rejected the demon's bribe received a far greater fortune, and he received it cleanly, with no spiritual debt attached.