The Testing of a Wizard

Music plays. Blackout. Curtains.

* * * * *

Scene Two.

Somewhere in the mountains, inside the cave of Hermit. Gelo lies wounded. He sleeps, though moans and repeats Lizy’s name. Hermit is cooking something on a hearth. In the center of the stage there is table and chairs. Gelo regains his consciousness and looks around the cave with bewilderment. Hermit notices this.

HERMIT – Ah, I see you’re awake? In a minute I’ll give you something to eat.

GELO – Where am I? What happened to me? Who are you? How did I get here?

HERMIT – You’ve just woken up and you are interrogating me already.

GELO – Sorry, but I don’t remember anything. The last thing I remember is the landslide in the mountains. I was walking along the mountain path, and then all of a sudden rock started falling down…

HERMIT – And from this landslide I rescued you. You were very badly hurt, but luckily, you’re still alive. You could have died.

GELO – How long have I been here?

HERMIT – I found you in the morning collecting wood, three days ago.

GELO – Three whole days! I lost three days!

HERMIT – You could have lost your life. Be happy that I found you.

GELO – Thank you very much! You saved my life. But I’m in a hurry. I have a very important matter. And I have wasted so much time!

Gelo tries to get up quickly but grimaces with pain. And with difficulty walks to the table to sit down.

HERMIT – Maybe you should eat first, and regain your strength? And then you can hurry to your worthless matters.

GELO – Why do you say that? You don’t even know why and where I am going.

HERMIT – And I don’t particularly want to know. And I don’t want to know you either.

GELO – Then why did you save me?

HERMIT – To leave someone in the mountains to die is a sin.

GELO – It seems that you are not very hospitable.

HERMIT – Yes, I don’t like guests. No matter how much you feed them they always end up drunk. And try to get under your skin or throw all their problems at you. That’s why I left people and came to live here.

GELO – Don’t you get lonely by yourself? If you don’t have no one to talk with, won’t you become dull?

HERMIT – Nothing of the sort. Whenever I want to hear something intelligent, I just talk to myself. It saves me from other people’s stupidity and idiocy.

GELO – And do you consider stupidity contagious?

HERMIT – No, but the boundaries of stupidity of one man overlaps those who are around him.

GELO – Do you really think the world only consist of stupid people?!

HERMIT – There are many who are just half-stupid, they are even worse. You never know when to deal with them or when to avoid them. And anyway, when a person is stupid, he will remain stupid forever.

GELO – Why?

HERMIT – Because stupidity is not like a woman, it won’t leave you for another man.

GELO – You have a very dark view of humanity. They don’t always act distortedly on purpose, a lot of the time they just make mistakes.

HERMIT – I agree, its human nature to make mistakes, and they use this quality to their advantage.

GELO – Why do you hate people so much?

HERMIT – But I don’t, I’m just indifferent to them. That’s just the essential condition of my loneliness.

GELO – But have you always felt that?

HERMIT – Some time ago when I lived in a valley among people. I had a friend; our friendship was the most wonderful thing in the world. I was ready to give him my whole world, myself unconditionally, because a real friendship has no egotism and no boundaries. But my world wasn’t interesting enough for him. And I was only needed like an object, which you use and then put on the shelf for the next time. And so, he used me and my friendship, only when he needed it. And then he betrayed me. Threw me away and forgot about me like I was a used handkerchief. I couldn’t stand this betrayal. I was young, and apart from his friendship I didn’t have anything at all…I decided to die. All my emotions, thoughts, and desires had to disappear. And dissolve in loneliness. And so, I went into the mountains. Since then, I have settled down here. At the end of the day my loneliness is my punishment and burden for me being young and gullible. But my loneliness is also my way to peace in mind and happiness.

GELO – Has your soul really become that stale and gloomy? Just because of your friend’s betrayal, you have turned your back on the rest of the world?!

HERMIT – What do you know about my soul, a soul of a lonely man!!! It is covered in wounds like a body of a smallpox sufferer. The soul of a lonely man is unable to create something magnificent, to fly and be joyful! It can only moan and sorrowfully watch the world go by. It doesn’t contain love or hatred. The wound of a lonely soul hurts and itches. This itch changes into emptiness and indifference. You want to peel the scab off, but you’re afraid, what if it becomes even worse. Any human contact is like a gulp of liquid in a desert, but you never know whether it is water or poison. And because of this you want to drown into an immeasurable sadness…and you’re surrounded by anguish and emptiness … But I don’t want to change anything! And I will not!

GELO – And with this heartache you hide yourself here from life and people?

HERMIT – Sometimes I come across people. I go down into the valley to the fair. I wonder among the loud and variegated crowd, peer at their faces and their eyes. Trying to understand what they are thinking and feeling about and why they are hustling and bustling…

GELO – To get lost in a crowd doesn’t mean you are a part of them!

HERMIT – I think you’re right, that’s why I seldom do it.

GELO – And how do you feel when you are doing it?

HERMIT – Lonely, but in a crowd. It is a strange feeling; all around you is commotion, conversations, other people’s lives. I’m at center of it all, but it feels I’m on the outside looking in, at people and myself. I walk around and I don’t know who I am, where I am and why I am here. I’m alive but don’t have a life…

GELO – It seems you’re bogged down in your memories. They drag you like a quagmire. Shake it off! One cannot pity himself all life and condemn others.

HERMIT – What’s it to you?!

GELO – I’m trying to understand you because you saved my life.

HERMIT – It’s not my fault; I didn’t do it on purpose…

GELO – Listen! To live in the past isn’t a life but an illusion. Real life is in the present and in dreams about the future.

HERMIT – You’re wrong. A person’s memories are his treasure, his fortune, and his assets. One can’t throw away life experiences out the window, even if they are sad and sorrowful.

GELO – Why throw it away? Stop living in the past, have a look around.

HERMIT – Where?! At the filth of the world? At the people’s staleness and meanness?

GELO – I agree not all people are kind and nice. It’s hard to live in an imperfect world. But it’s even harder to live alone. Why have you doomed yourself to a life of suffering and anguish?

HERMIT – I’m tired of lies and hypocrisy.

GELO – Maybe that’s because you never learnt to love.

HERMIT – But I’m capable of friendship. Don’t you think sincere friendship is equal to love?

GELO – I don’t know. But in my opinion love is superior to virtue and sin, humiliation and retribution, mercy, and compassion. Genuine love is the ability to forgive.

HERMIT – No, I don’t need friendship or love anymore. It’s burdensome, which means it is dangerous for health. Of course, no one has yet to die of love…and I don’t want to be the first one.

GELO – Nonsense! You could still meet and fall in love with a woman who wouldn’t betray your feelings.

HERMIT – I doubt it. The only love which won’t betray you is the love for yourself. With this love you can live all your life and keep your faith.

GELO – Aren’t you even interested in a woman’s beauty?

HERMIT – Women are complicated creatures. When I lived in the valley, I almost went crazy trying to understand them. But I guess I tried to hard. That’s why when I think of women, I don’t tremble with love but instead I get a nervous twitch.

GELO – Looks like you were unlucky. You never met a girl like my Lizy.

HERMIT – You kept talking about her when you were unconscious. What’s so special about her?

GELO – My Lizy is so beautiful, naïve, and innocent. Sometimes I think she is a saint.

HERMIT – It seems dangerous, having a saint for a wife. They usually turn their husbands into martyrs. Are you ready for that?

GELO – For Lizy I am ready to do anything! You wouldn’t imagine what a pleasure it is to hug and kiss my fiancé!

HERMIT – Maybe it’s even better to kiss another man’s fiancé?! Have you tried it?

GELO – I don’t need others! I only love Lizy. Whenever I look at the moon, I remember Lizy. When the wind sings in the sky, I hear Lizy’s voice. Whenever I smell wildflowers, I can smell Lizy too. Lizy is everything wonderful and beautiful about this world. Lizy is like a mighty river and yet tender like a brook. Lizy is like the warmth of the sun’s rays and the freshness of the summer’s rain. Lizy is like the brightness of the day and the calmness of the night. And she loves only me. When she’s near me I am ready to carry out the most unthinkable things and the most unimaginable heroic act. Whenever we’re apart I always remember that she is out there waiting for me, and we will be together soon. And because of that my heart is filled with warmth and pleasure. What could be more wonderful!

HERMIT – If so, why have you left your Lizy, and instead rushing somewhere risking your life?

GELO – This is my duty, my vocation and destiny. The matter is that I’m a future Wizard.

HERMIT – Like I haven’t got enough to deal with! Ah, that’s why you’re so strange.

GELO – No, at the moment I’m only an apprentice. But I hope to become not just a Wizard but a truly great one.

HERMIT – But of course! Young people are always trying to get themselves in the history books. If travelling, it has to be to the end of the world. And if jumping then to reach the moon.

GELO – You don’t understand. It’s not about vanity or pride, believe me. I want to become a great Wizard, because my greatest wish is to make all people happy. To an ordinary Wizard this is impossible.

HERMIT – So you want to make people happy. To give something to someone means that you have to take something away from someone else. Who will you take happiness from, so that you could give it away?

GELO – Nobody.

HERMIT – It doesn’t work like that.

GELO – My teacher Fadrius sent me on a long journey to get the MIRACLE. With The help of this MIRACLE, it is possible to make any wishes come true.

HERMIT – Now I get it. Your kind is a dying breed.

GELO – What do you mean?

HERMIT – You are a romantic idealist, a dying breed.

GELO – I’m not dying. I just have a slight headache. Apart from that I’m alright.

HERMIT – That’s just what you think. In truth you’re incurable. You want to make all people in the world happy by putting yourself at risk! To those people who gave each other anguish instead of joy. To those people whom treachery and lies come easier than truth and sincerity, to those people who won’t even want to thank you. You’re ill!

GELO – It’s not true. In every one of us there is kindness. The problems and burdens of life make us angry. But if you make everyone happy, then the lies, treachery wickedness will disappear. If all the people learn to love each other than the world would become a better place.

HERMIT – You’re definitely ill.

GELO – You are the ill one, not me! But the only thing that will save you is not solitude but the return to people. You saved my life. And that means you saved my and Lizy's love. I’m very grateful to you… If you become my friend, your soul will experience the same emotions.

HERMIT – What do you need me for? You already have Lizy!

GELO – It’s totally different. Love and friendship are like two sisters. But it’s not the same. I cannot give you my love, but I can offer you my sincere friendship. Don’t refuse it. Be my best friend.

HERMIT – But do you know how to be a real friend?

GELO – I don’t know… I never had any real friends. But I think you could teach me, since you seem to know what it is. I will try very hard. The most important thing about friendship, as in love is what you feel in your soul. And I only feel compassion. You’re a good person. I want to offer you the warmth of my heart. I want my joy and happiness to become yours, and your sadness and grief to become mine. I want you to be happy with me… is that not friendship?

HERMIT – You’re asking what friendship is. Friendship is when you have someone to share your grief and joy. For that you have close relatives and neighbors… Friendship is when you have someone to share your dreams, or just be silent with. And it’s not a burden. Friendship is a connection of souls and the ability to share emotions despite distance. A friend can support you or disagree with you, but in all sincerity and honesty. Friendship is not allowed to be sly or to be hypocritical. Friendship is always unselfish and not garish. It’s not dressed up in bright finery of thoughtless carousing. Friendship is like an everyday job, not loud or noticeable. But it’s always a celebration. Even in dire straits it is a medicine for the boundless disappointment in life. It is a safe bay for a shattered soul, wrecked in a storm of life. And at the same time, it is a source of motivation to move ahead in hard times. A sincere friendship, like a genuine love is made in heaven. Only there such a great and elevated feeling could come about, its fills up life not only with meaning, but humanitarianism, because a sense of meaning and purpose also exists in scoundrels. But sincere and genuine friendship is a quality of an honest and kind person. Not everyone in life is destined to have real friends. But everybody could try and be a good friend. You just have to want it though. And remain an honest human being under any circumstances… Even though it is very hard to do so… Perhaps genuine friendship is real happiness and a great miracle itself!

GELO – If you understand all of this, then why don’t you return to people, and open up your soul once again…