The Bottle Imp is a short story written in 1891 by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Keawe, a poor native Hawaiian, buys a bottle from a wealthy elderly gentleman that reputedly contains an imp that can grant the owner their every desire.
However, there's one catch: the bottle itself is cursed, and if the owner dies bearing it, his or her soul will be taken to Hell. To make matters worse, the bottle cannot be thrown out or given away because it will immediately return to them. The only way to get rid of it is to sell the bottle at a lower price than the owner originally paid for.
When Keawe makes his wishes, he experiences firsthand the benefits and the drawbacks of a wish granted. He must find a buyer who can take it before his soul is doomed forever.
I'll give you The Bottle Imp tropes for two centimes:
- Artifact of Doom: The titular bottle, said to have been brought to Earth by the Devil himself.
- Clingy MacGuffin: One of the drawbacks of owning the bottle is that it can't be thrown out or given away because it will return to the owner regardless.
- Convenient Terminal Illness: Keawe contracts leprosy before he could be betrothed to Kokua, prompting him to seek the bottle to cure him.
- Curse Escape Clause: One of the instructions with the bottle is that to get rid of it (and avoid dooming your soul), it must be sold to a potential buyer at a lower price than the previous owner paid.
- Deal with the Devil: The imp in the bottle that grants the owner's every wish but dooms them to Hell after death.
- Despair Event Horizon: Keawe experiences this after using the bottle to cure his illness, dreading his eventual damnation.
- Do You Want to Haggle?: Selling the bottle at a lower price than previously purchased is the only way to get the bottle out of your hands.
- Historical Domain Character: Prester John, Napoleon Bonaparte and Captain James Cook are mentioned as among the previous owners of the magic bottle.
- Not Afraid to Die: The boatswain, the last person to purchase the bottle from Keawe, refuses to part with it as he expressed no fear of his doom.
- Not Afraid of Hell: The boatswain's stated rationale for refusing to part with the bottle: "I reckon I'm goin' anyway."
- Paying in Coins: When Keawe and Kokua realize the imminent danger of the bottle, each resorted to bargaining with the lowest worth of coins (centimes).
- Rags to Riches: Keawe gains his fortune through the wish on the bottle.
- Self-Sacrifice Scheme: Kokua, determined to save her husband from damnation, opted to sell the bottle and then buying it back so that she takes the curse in Keawe's place. He finds out what she did and attempts to do the same to save her soul.
