Post by donq on Sept 3, 2022 19:03:18 GMT
And you also have become a magician
A prince believed his father when he told the prince that there were no such things as princesses, islands, or God. The prince thought the king must be correct, since the boy never saw any evidence for the existence of these things in the realm. One day, the prince ran away to another kingdom, where, to his amazement, he saw islands, princesses, and a man who claimed to be God.
Upon his return home, the prince told the king that he had seen islands, princesses, and even God. The king dismissed his son’s sightings, saying that they were not real. The son, convinced that he could trust what he had seen, argued with his father.
His father asked, “Tell me how God was dressed.”
“God was in full evening dress,” said the prince.
"Were the sleeves of his coat rolled back?," the king inquired.
“Yes,” he remembered.
“Then, you have been deceived by a magician,” the father concluded.
The very next day, the prince returned to the other land and confronted the magician, saying that his father had warned him that the man was a magician and that he had used illusions to beguile the prince.
The magician smiled and told the boy that it was he who was deceived. “Your father is also a magician, and in his kingdom there are many islands, princesses, and God can be found there, too. Only you can’t see them because you are under your father’s spell.”
The prince pensively returned home. When he saw his father, he looked him in the eyes, "Father, is it true that you are not a real king, but only a magician?"
The king smiled, and rolled back his sleeves, "Yes, my son, I am only a magician."
"Then, the man on the other land was God," said the prince.
"That man was another magician," said the king.
"I must know the real truth, the truth beyond magic," said the prince
"There is no truth beyond magic," said the king.
The prince was full of sadness. He said, 'I will kill myself.'
The king by magic caused death to appear. Death stood in the door and beckoned to the prince. The prince shuddered. He remembered the beautiful but unreal islands and the unreal but beautiful princesses. "Very well," he said, "I can bear it."
-Adapted from Fowles, J. (1973). The magus.
A prince believed his father when he told the prince that there were no such things as princesses, islands, or God. The prince thought the king must be correct, since the boy never saw any evidence for the existence of these things in the realm. One day, the prince ran away to another kingdom, where, to his amazement, he saw islands, princesses, and a man who claimed to be God.
Upon his return home, the prince told the king that he had seen islands, princesses, and even God. The king dismissed his son’s sightings, saying that they were not real. The son, convinced that he could trust what he had seen, argued with his father.
His father asked, “Tell me how God was dressed.”
“God was in full evening dress,” said the prince.
"Were the sleeves of his coat rolled back?," the king inquired.
“Yes,” he remembered.
“Then, you have been deceived by a magician,” the father concluded.
The very next day, the prince returned to the other land and confronted the magician, saying that his father had warned him that the man was a magician and that he had used illusions to beguile the prince.
The magician smiled and told the boy that it was he who was deceived. “Your father is also a magician, and in his kingdom there are many islands, princesses, and God can be found there, too. Only you can’t see them because you are under your father’s spell.”
The prince pensively returned home. When he saw his father, he looked him in the eyes, "Father, is it true that you are not a real king, but only a magician?"
The king smiled, and rolled back his sleeves, "Yes, my son, I am only a magician."
"Then, the man on the other land was God," said the prince.
"That man was another magician," said the king.
"I must know the real truth, the truth beyond magic," said the prince
"There is no truth beyond magic," said the king.
The prince was full of sadness. He said, 'I will kill myself.'
The king by magic caused death to appear. Death stood in the door and beckoned to the prince. The prince shuddered. He remembered the beautiful but unreal islands and the unreal but beautiful princesses. "Very well," he said, "I can bear it."
"You see, my son," said the king, "you too now begin to be a magician.”
