It was said there was a great treasure hidden in Mynydd y Drum. A cwmshurwr, a conjuror, from Ystradgynlais, known as a dyn llaw-harn, a man with an iron hand, said he could get it if he could find a plucky man to spend a night on the mountain with him. John Gethin was bold enough to agree. The wizard drew two circles on the turf touching each other like a figure eight, stepped into one and put Gethin in the other, and told him on no account to step out. Then he got busy with his books.
First a monstrous bull appeared, bellowing horribly, but Gethin stood his ground and it vanished. Then came a terrible "fly-wheel of fire" which rushed straight at him and made him swerve out of his circle. At once the wheel became the Devil, who began to drag Gethin away. The conjuror caught hold of him and they pulled against each other until the Devil was winning. The conjuror begged to be allowed to keep Gethin for as long as his piece of candle lasted. The Devil agreed and let go, and the conjuror instantly blew the candle out.
Gethin kept the candle end carefully in a cool place, but although it was never lit it wasted away all the same. He was so frightened that he took to his bed, and he wasted away with it, and they came to an end together. Gethin vanished, and it was a lump of clay, not his body, that went into the coffin to save appearances. The wizard's books were said to be still in an oak chest at Waungyrlais farmhouse. Shôn o'r Bont's version says the Gethin who dug in the Garn was turned into a wheel of fire by the fairies and got no peace until he set them to make a rope of sand.
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