IN social networks And on forums An excerpt is allegedly from the story of Clive Steaplez Lewis called "Tips of the Old Devil." In the form of a parable, it is said that the devil was able to easily capture the souls of people who, due to fear of getting sick, lost all social ties. We decided to check whether the author of the Chronicle of Narnia wrote such a text.

The passage, according to the statements, was written in the 1940s and published in the book "Balamut's Tips".
“Young man to the devil:
- How did you manage to send so many souls to hell?
Devil:
- Through fear!
Young man:
- And what were they afraid of? War? Hunger?
Devil:
- No ... illness!
Young man:
- They didn't get sick? Didn't they die? Wasn't there a medicine?
Devil:
- Sick. They died. There was a medicine ...
Young man:
- I don't understand…
Devil:
- accidentally considered that the only thing that needs to be stored at all costs is life !!! They stopped hugging ... They stopped greeting each other !!! They left all human contacts ... They left everything that was a man! They were left without money. They lost their jobs. But they preferred to be afraid for their lives, even if they did not have bread to eat. They believed what they heard, read newspapers and blindly believed that they were reading. They refused freedom. They never left home again, they did not go anywhere. Friends and relatives have never visited again. The whole world turned into a huge prison with convicts-volunteers. They accepted everything !!! All this to survive another pathetic day .... They did not live, they were dying every day! It was too easy to pick up their miserable soul ..."

Klive Steaples Lewis is a British writer and poet, teacher, scientist and theologian who has gained worldwide glory thanks to the fantasy cycle “Chronicles of Narnia”. His books are translated into more than 30 languages and published by millions of circulations.

Lewis has two works about the conversations of the old devil with his nephew: “Letters of Balamut” and “Balamut offers a toast”. However, how easy it is to verify by looking at the texts of both books, the above quote in them Not found.

Also, it is not in other books of Lewis published at that time - neither in "Just Christianity"nor in "Divorce"nor in "Preface to" Lost Paradise ". It also failed to find it in the book "Quoted Lewis"including 1,500 quotes of the British writer. William O’Flarty, Lewis biographer and author of the book “The wrongly quoted Lewis: why did he never say what he really said and why it does” also ” confirmsthat the quote is attributed to this erroneously and in the original works of Clive Lewis it is not.

The real author of the quote is the Brazilian writer Kamila Abadi, author Books "Catholic homework." She Placed Her April 19, 2020 on her Facebook page. Judging by the history of changes in fasting, the quote became viral and was immediately attributed to Lewis. Two hours after the publication, the author added a note that this is her text, not Lewis and that it was an unpublished excerpt from her book “Card of Hell”.

Thus, the distributed post is the modern text of the Brazilian writer, mistakenly issued for a quote from the British classic.