The Black Book (Rügen, Germany)

In Sabitz near Bergen there formerly lived a number of peasants who, it was said, possessed a black book. With its help they were able to acquire substantial wealth, and if they did anything bad to a neighbor, they always went unpunished. Whoever wanted to use the black book had to read the text forwards and backwards. The devil gained control of anyone who failed to read it backwards. It was no longer known where the book came from. The oldest people knew only that they had come into its possession through an inheritance. Sometimes the book caused its owners much grief, so finally they tried to dispose of it. For a long time these attempts were to no avail, until they sought the advise of a pastor. He freed them from the book by nailing shut the drawer in which it was being stored.