Secrets Of Magic – Short Story with Moral Lesson

He squatted down under the mango tree beside the path resting his back against its trunk, probably to rest, I presumed. The Chinese Magician, so was he called, must be tired of his performances. It was dawn and the sun was peeking from the horizon to show itself. It’ll have to wait though. The air was still cool from the night’s rain and the ground moist. But all these didn’t seem to bother him.

It’s unusual to find a soul on the fields at this hour. I had noticed someone pass by my hut out of the window. His long Chinese robe, which was the only one in our village, gave him away. I followed him, partly out of curiosity, and partly out of my own interest regarding some matters. We were almost a mile from the village now, far from my shack. He sat there silently and motionless. I had to take my chance.

I crouched and sneaked up from behind, his back facing me, and approached the tree. He didn’t show any signs of noticing my presence. I drew closer like a stealthy snake, the partial darkness aiding to my camouflage. I was close enough to notice a puff of smoke emanate from near his face. He was probably smoking his pipe.

I didn’t quite understand why I was hiding myself from him. But that didn’t last long. As I was treading cautiously, I slipped on slippery ground and fell with an inevitable shriek of pain. He didn’t bother to turn around but remarked,

” I’ve been observing you for a while now. What do you want? Why are you following me?”. His tone was calm and composed.

I quickly recovered from the sudden attack and stood upright. His questions took me off-guard.

“I’m from the village. I saw you sneak out in the dark of the night. Are you leaving?”, I questioned back with equal composure.

“None of your business,boy”, he said bossily,”Get goin’ now”.

I trotted towards him instead. He was still smoking when I turned to face him. He didn’t bother to look up at me. There was a deadly silence. I didn’t want to break it for fear what lay beneath it.

Finally, I asked uneasily,” Why are you leaving? You’ve been here for only two days. Besides, our folks like…I mean love your performances”.

He tilted his head up and looked coldly with his thin eyes below his slanted Chinese eyebrows at me.

“Two days are too long. Attachments are not good, specially for a traveller like me”, he said blearily, “Now if your queries are answered, I’d like to be on my own now”.

It was really tiring to start a conversation with him. Without wasting any moment, I blurted out,

“I want to go with you. Take me”.

I think his heart skipped a beat. He stared at me in sheer bewilderment, unable to utter a word. He stopped smoking. He exclaimed as soon as he found his ability to speak,

“Are you mad? I can’t do that. Its too-“. I didn’t let him finish.

“But I’m useful. I can do a lot of work. I want to learn magic too. I don’t want to stay here…in this little godforsaken place forever!”

He lost his temper at my behaviour. He just said calmly,”No…that’s it. Nothing you say can change my decision. I prefer living alone”.

I stood there silently, unable to grasp my next words. Time passed quite slowly. I spent those few minutes studying his intricate details. His long robe covered most of him. He had hard set eyes, dark lips and a ragged face, looked like a hundred years old. It was difficult to stare into his eyes without getting lost in a trance. He just had a small rucksack as his belonging.

He let out a long breath and sighed. He probably realized I won’t leave that easily. He said with some discomfort,”How old are you?”

“I’m only fifteen but I can do lots of things li-”

“Stop!”,he snapped like a whip, “I didn’t ask that”. Finally he added to my relief,

“Come, sit beside me… Its still some time before daybreak. We can have a little talk”.

I joined cheerfully beside him and sat on the wet grass.I was determined to make him change his decision about me by the end of our chat. As I sat close to him, a weird stench filled my nostrils, it was intoxicating.

“Do you work in the fields?”, he asked.

“No, my father’s a carpenter. I help him at the shop”.

“That is good enough. Why do you want to come with me then? Surely, your father will need your young hands at his store”.

“I know that…but it’s not enough. I don’t want to be a carpenter all my life. I have dreams too. My own dreams. I’ve seen you perform at the gatherings. People love you for that. I want that life too, where people will appreciate me for my work. I know I can do it. Just give me chance. I’ll work really hard”.

He grinned at my sudden burst of words. He began smoking the pipe again, staring deeply into the fields that lay ahead and smiled to himself. I didn’t understand what was so amusing.

He spoke softly,”What’s your name, boy?”

“I’m Rahul”.

“Good. Do you know what it means?”

“No, I don’t”, I answered blankly.

“It actually means bondage but in Arabic it means traveller“.

I was unable to comprehend the intentions behind such questions. I wondered whether he was trying to hypnotize me. I knew skilled magicians could do that at ease.

He suddenly asked, “What do you know of magic?”

Finally, he had come to the right point. I replied instantly, “I don’t know much, but I’ve seen your tricks. I want to learn them and make a living-”

“That should be enough!”. He cut me short. “Did you like my performances?”

I nodded in consent. I believed he was the best magician I’ve ever seen, though I’ve seen only a few.

“That is not all about magic”. He said with an air of pride, in a voice which hadn’t lost its youthful touch. It was like a sword whose blade had rusted but its glittering gems spoke of its rich history. He paused slightly, then continued,

” You see, I make a living by tricking people. My magics are tricks”.

A smile lit up his face. “People are rather awed by the mysterious tricks I play on them instead of seeing the more obvious around. Its funny, how being fooled is being entertained. Humans are strange.”

“But they really like it”, I protested.

“I’ve no doubt about that. The world is a beautiful place for a blind, no matter how bloody the visions get. He will be amazed at the things which he never sees but only hears of. But if he ever gets the chance to see them, he’ll wish he were blind to the miseries around”

I listened patiently, unable to utter anything. There was certain conviction, as well as truth in what he said.

“What lies behind the mist, inspires wonder. It always has. One will always be curious to find what lies unknown. Humans owe their progress as well as their mistakes due to this quality. Do you think the villages would treat me the same if I revealed my secrets?”. He raised an eyebrow towards me.

I sat dumb-founded at this sudden flood of words from him. Every word his spoke stretched my imagination to limits and pushed me to the edges of thinking.

“I guess they would”, I said softly.

“You are young, lad”, a crooked smile appeared on his lips, “The moment they find out some of my tricks they will start questioning my other tricks. They will start reasoning. That’s the way it goes. Two days are more than enough at a place. A magician is nothing if he reveals his secrets. His secrets are his life. He must bind them to his very soul”.

I tried to contemplate over what he said. “So, you won’t take me with you?”, I eventually asked.

“Come on! Look around you. You have everything you need. You do not want to spend life running around tricking people, I’m sure. Your place is here, Rahul”.

“But I wanted to be much more than all of this”, I murmured.

“Be reasonable now! See the clear picture of things! I’m showing you much more than most would see in a lifetime! What I do is nothing compared to what your family does. Carpenters make something which is useful and simple enough in make. But my tricks are complex and for what?! Just to fool some humans who enjoy being fooled. They call it entertainment. Good for me, for it makes my living.”

He paused to puff his smoke, then continued,”Come out of this darkness! People appreciate me for something I do which they don’t understand. People don’t praise you for the hard work you do for they think it’s too easy to understand. Just think about this! Don’t be guided by what others judge your work. You must know better!”

I said,”It’s not that I hate my work. I enjoy it too”. I sighed and continued,”But when I saw you perform and others cheering you, I wondered life would be much better if I become one like you”.

“Don’t even think of that”, he scolded, “Don’t judge yourself by looking at other’s lives. I do my work. You should do your own, whether others like it or not. I have gone too far in all this that I cannot come back but you are young, make your life worthwhile. Because in the end you’ll know that you have lived your life giving others, and not tricking people with false magic”. His voice broke in despair.

The sun was almost above the horizon now. I could see some villagers heading our way. They were probably leaving to see their goods. The grass had dried. The magician put away the pipe in his rucksack. He abruptly got up to depart.

He said hastily,”I must be going now before the entire village finds out about my leaving”.

He slung his rucksack on his shoulders and asked casually,”Do you know what the secret of magic is?”

“Skilled hands and great knowledge”, I guessed vaguely.

He let out a light laughter.”That is the secret of good tricks which fools call magic. But the real secret lies in achieving a feat without the use of any magic, where only magic could have been the solution”.

I asked astonished, “But how is that possible? Hoe can one achieve the truly magical without the use of magic?”

“By believing in it”,he answered solemnly. His eyes sparkled as he said,

“Throughout history some have achieved great successes which seemed impossible. When lesser mortals learn of these, they just wonder in amazement if it was magic which made it possible. True magic lies within your abilities”. He smiled gently at me.

Involuntarily, I felt myself smiling back.

“Farewell, boy. I hope my words bring peace to you”, he said gruffly.

I didn’t speak anything but waved at him to bid goodbye. Just when I saw him reach the bend of the road, a sudden revelation came over me. I yelled at him,”But, what is your name ,sir?”

He didn’t turn around but roared out quite loud for me to grasp his words.

“People usually call me The Chinese Magician”.

I stood under the tree as the sun rose in the sky and his figure faded away in the distance.

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