The Master and His Pupil

Quick Answer

Why This Story Works for Bedtime

It’s best for older kids: mysterious, thoughtful, and a bit eerie. As a bedtime story, it works when read slowly and framed as a caution about curiosity without care, ending with reassurance and reflection.

Story Synopsis

In a northern country, a master is known for learning so deep that people whisper he understands every language—seen and unseen. In his house there is a private room with a heavy table bolted to the floor. On it lies a great black book with iron clasps, chained in place. The master alone has the key, and he warns his pupil that the book holds dangerous secrets of the spiritual world. The pupil may study many things, but he must never open that volume. For a while the pupil obeys. But curiosity grows stronger each day. He imagines what is written inside—names of angels, hidden powers, mysteries that might make him wise and important. At last, in a moment of temptation, he breaks the rule and opens the book. What he finds changes the air around him. Knowledge that seemed exciting now feels heavy, and the pupil learns that some doors—once opened—cannot be closed without consequence. When the master returns, the pupil must face what he has done and what it means. The tale is a caution about pride and impatience, and a reminder that wisdom isn’t only learning facts—it’s knowing when to stop, when to wait, and when to honor boundaries.

Story Excerpt

There once lived, in the far north - country, a man so learned that people whispered he knew every language under the sun. He studied the world that can be seen — and the world that cannot. In his house there was a private room that stayed very quiet, as if it were listening. In that room stood a heavy table bolted to the floor. Upon it lay one great book, bound in black calfskin, with iron corners and iron clasps. A chain held it fast to the table. The master kept an iron key for it, and when he opened the clasps, he read with careful eyes. No one else was allowed to read even a single line. For this was not an ordinary book. It held secrets of the spiritual world. It spoke of how many angels were in heaven, and how they moved in their ranks, and sang in their choirs, and what each one’s work was meant to be. It named the great angels of might. It also spoke — quietly, but plainly — of darker spirits : how many there were, what powers they had, what tasks they could do, and what words could call them, command them, and send them away again. The master had a pupil, a…

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