The devil came to town

The devil asked God if he could go down to earth and cause some trouble. God let him, saying "you can have your fun, but you know I always win in the end". So the devil went to a small town and found a man he would use. He spent years turning this man evil, first as a liar, then as a thief and manipulator. The man had a small market and it grew under the devil's care to the largest in the town. He soon became very wealthy, most by cheating others and destroying his competition. The devil had turned this one man into such a problem that the whole town was suffering. But the man had a wife who loved him and was always looking to thwart his evil. And soon, she started to get the upper hand. When he cheated the poor, she gave the money back. When he destroyed someone's business, she was always ready to loan money back. She became the wisest woman in town and everyone came to her to see what they should do. So the devil tried to get the man to stop this. "leave her" but the man said he loved her too much. So the devil got the man to try to disgrace her publicly, having a series of affairs with notorious people of the town. But even this did not change her. "No one can take my character. My husband has sinned, and that is between him and God, but I will continue to love him and love this town." The devil tried to get the man to beat his wife, but the man loved her too much and secretly was proud of her courage. The devil tried to get him to kill her, and he refused. Finally the devil brought sickness to the town and the man's wife died. But this was too much for the man, and he changed his ways. He repented, gave away his money and lived the rest of his life at the church, giving to the poor. The devil was so angry, because he had given years to this man and just because the man refused to beat and kill his wife, everything was lost. So the devil used the oldest magic he knew and conjured up a great spell. From that day onward, the town would be cursed with men who hated women. Many years went by, and the man eventually died. The young men who grew up under the curse started to Marry and right away beat their wives. The told their wives that is what they were for and if they were more obedient they wouldn't get beaten. These men trained their brothers and their sons in their ways and soon even the women were told that they were less than men. They were beaten and belittled, and many died. And yet it still went on. The towns curse spread as the men moved to other towns and soon the whole land had pockets of men who beat their wives (section on the neediness of these men, ambivalence) God gathered his saints in heaven for a great battle, he choose the women of these towns for saints.