The story right now is taking place after the accident with Agrippa’s previous apprentice. Agrippa is now in need of another apprentice and Winzy is the perfect candidate, because he is poor and in need of money, and Agrippa is wealthy and is in need of an apprentice.

However, throughout the story and in this particular section it’s evident that Winzy is one of the only morally good guys. He refuses the offer and goes away, in fear of Satan.

The fourth allusion

The story is now alluding to the poem,

‘Cornelius Agrippa; A ballad, of a Young Man that would Read Unlawful Books, and how he was Punished" by Robert Southey (1774-1783)

Summary;
The poem itself talks about an apprentice who was in charge of a key that Agrippa had held, the apprentice used it to read through books and letters of Agrippa, and accidentally summoned a demon. The demon ended up killing the apprentice, and society shunned Agrippa

This poem is heavily mentioned throughout the short story, there are many many references to it.

Other than the allusion, the last part

Experiment after experiment failed, because one pair of hands was insufficient to complete them: the dark spirits laughed at him for not being able to retain a single mortal in his service.

is foreshadowing Winzy coming in and being Agrippa’s apprentice.

Cornelius Agrippa in the early 16th century became famous for his research into occult philosophy, which at that time, was looked down upon. He wrote those sciences into an elaborate thesis. Agrippa had a dog which he taught tricks at his command. The dog was regarded by others as being an old friend of Agrippa who had transformed into the dog in order to obey him.

Agrippa in science fiction novels, movies, films, etc. is almost synonymously associated with witch craft and devilish things.

The third allusion

Frances Sheridan (pictured below) published The History of Nourjahad in 1767. The story describes Nourjahad, who is tricked by the sultan Schemzeddin to believe that he has become immortal and that his period of sleep lasted for seven years at a time, thus propelling him into the future.

The second allusion

In the lines leading up to this and these lines, Winzy is describing how hard it is being Immortal. It is not easy.

The seven sleepers are

commonly called the “Seven Sleepers of Ephesus”, refers to a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 AD, to escape a persecution of Christians being conducted during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius. Another version is that Decius ordered them imprisoned in a closed cave to die there as punishment for being Christians. Having fallen asleep inside the cave, they purportedly awoke approximately 180 years later during the reign of Theodosius II, following which they were reportedly seen by the people of the now-Christian city before dying.

The Wandering Jew is a legendary figure from medieval Christian mythology. After taunting Christ en route to the Crucifixion, he was condemned to walk the earth until the Second Coming.

Louis Williams is a professional NBA player for the Atlanta Hawks

“I do numbers” refers to the numbers that Louis Williams puts up, while at the free throw line and co-relates with the number of records that Wale sells.