Читать книгу The Valkyries - Пауло Коэльо - Страница 13

THAT AFTERNOON, THEY WENT TO A COFFEE shop across the street from the hotel. Paulo chose a table by the window. They ordered ice cream. Chris had spent several hours studying her second mind, and had learned to control it much better than before, but her appetite was never subject to control.

Paulo said, “I want you to pay close attention to the people who pass by.”

She did as Paulo had asked. In the next half hour, only five people passed by.

“What did you see?”

She described the people in detail—their clothing, approximate age, what they were carrying. But apparently that wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He insisted on more, trying to get a better answer, but couldn’t do so.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m going to tell you what it was that I wanted you to notice: All the people who passed by in the street were looking down.”

They waited for some time before another person walked by. Paulo was right.

“Gene asked you to look to the horizon. Try that.”

“What do you mean?”

“All of us create a kind of ‘magic space’ around us. Usually it’s a circle with about a fifteen-foot radius, and we pay attention to what goes on within it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s people, tables, telephones, or windows; we try to maintain control over that small world that we, ourselves, create.

“A magus, though, always looks much further. We expand that ‘magic space’ and try to control a great many more things. They call it ‘looking at the horizon.’”

“Well, why should I do that?”

“Because you’re here. If you do it, you’ll see how much things change.”

When they left the coffee shop, she started to pay attention to things in the distance. She noticed the mountains, the occasional cloud that appeared as the sun began to set, and—in a strange way—she seemed to be seeing the air about her.

“Everything Gene told you is important,” Paulo said. “He has already seen and talked with his angel, and he is using you as a means of instructing me. He knows the power of his words, and he knows that advice not heeded is returned to its giver, losing its energy. He needs to be sure that you are interested in what he tells you.”

“Well, why doesn’t he show these things directly to you?”

“Because there is an unwritten rule in the Tradition: A master never teaches another master’s disciple. And he knows I am J.’s disciple. But since he wants to be of help to me, he is using you for that purpose.”

“Is that why you brought me here?”

“No. It was because I was afraid of being alone in the desert.”

He could have said it was because he loves me, she thought. That would have been more truthful.