He ticked the situation off on his fingers. "Archie, you've been kicked in the teeth by at least three of the four different types of elementals — earth, fire, and water. Maybe there was a sylph of the air in on it, too, but I can't prove it. First the gnomes came and cleaned out everything you had that came out of the ground, except cold iron. A salamander followed them and set fire to the place, burning everything that was burnable, and scorching and smoke-damaging the rest. Then the undine turned the place into a damned swamp, ruining anything that wouldn't burn, like cement and lime. You're insured?"
(...)
"Don't get your wind up too fast," he reassured me. "What magic can do, magic can undo. What we need is the best wizard in town."
Magic, Inc. by Robert Anson Heinlein
I den korta berättelsen Magic, Inc. av Heinlein , en affärsägare har förstört sin butik. Hans vän märker att det är arbetet med magiska varelser (magi är bara ett annat yrke i den här världen) och rådgav honom hur man kan skada skadan.
Detta är början på ett äventyr där underjorden försöker få ett monopol på användningen av magi.
Det finns oftast i en bok som innehåller denna historia, och Waldo .