The Magic Skin

“Shagreen Skin” is one of the most well-known and beloved novels by French writer Honoré de Balzac.
A young man loses everything at a casino and decides to settle accounts with life. He wandered through the city waiting for evening and ended up in an antique shop. Seeing the young man’s condition, the owner offered him a talisman: a piece of shagreen skin bearing the Solomon’s seal. The inscription in translation meant:
“By possessing me, you will possess everything—but your life will belong to me. As God wills it. Wish—and your wishes will be fulfilled. But measure your desires against your life. It is here. With every wish I will diminish, as your days…"
At the center of the novel is the tragedy of human existence: for every moment of joy, a person pays with a portion of their life—and the closer they get to their cherished goal, the closer they are to death.