The Lazy Wizard

Does the magic of life need tricks?

I love the art of teaching stories. It’s a sensitive art, and sometimes use them in lessons I offer. These stories are about magic, as I wonder about the nature of it, in our lives. Science is real, but belief in wonder makes life magical. Why about a wizard? Once my students gave me the honorary title of their tribal wizard. I actually used it as a job title for several years. One of the following incidents really happened. I won’t tell which. Perhaps slowly maybe, I’m learning the art of magic, let alone teaching stories. You tell me.

The Visit of the Lover

Once a lazy wizard came to town during the summer markets and festivals. He installed himself in a low open tent in the middle of the pile of pillows at the side of all events. From his tent he had a great view over the fields and village. Many people hoping to please him left him small gifts, like food and drinks at the front of his tent, yet few entered. Others thought him to be a charlatan as he never seemed to do any real magic and avoided him totally. Only a few villagers had the courage to really approach him.

One such was a young man who never had any luck in love. His desire to have a good wife was bigger than his fear of the wizard. As he stepped into the tent his eyes shot in all directions, his clothes lacked style and his nails were deep in mourning. “Can you fulfill me a wish?” The wizard looks at the man and asks, “What would be your wish?” The man swallows hopefully, “Can you bring me a love?” The wizard smiles and sits back in his pillows. “Would my magic work for you? That would be like a rough mountain expecting cars to reach the summit, while there is no road. I’m sorry. Better build a road onto the mountain first.”

The Visit of the Greedy Man

A man hungry for easy wealth and fortune also approached the wizard. He arrived in the evening so his fellow villagers wouldn’t hear what he had to say. “Dear wizard, I’d like to make three wishes. Can I?” “Sure you can,” the wizard sipping from some evening tea replied. “I wish 20 million euros, I wish a beautiful golden villa to live in, and I wish three young women adoring me, living there with me.” The wizard smiled. “Done.” The man looked around, but nothing had changed. “Where is the fulfillment of my 3 wishes then?” “Ah,” said the wizard, “I heard you ask if you could make three wishes, and you did. Well done you. Now let me enjoy my evening. Isn’t it wonderful?”

The Visit of the Bright Eyed Woman

A young woman with sparkly eyes wondered why none of her friends dared to approach the wizard. Fed up with their anxiety she went up to him. “So will you invite me in, like for tea.” He smiled at his lively visitor. “Hello young lady,” the wizard said, “I will offer you three wishes.” “Wow,” the young woman said, “this is going to be better than expected.” She took her time considering her wishes while the wizard lay waiting in his pillows. “I think I have some real wishes. I wish for some perfect days, with great weather. I wish for warmth and good friends in my life. And I wish for someone bringing me a cake.” The wizard smiled. “What wonderful beautiful wishes. All granted.” He made a lazy elegant move with his hand and then sipped some tea. She looked around her, but nothing happened. “And?” she asked sassily. “Ha,” the wizard said, “some days of beautiful weather always will happen anyway, therefore just wait and you’ll experience them happening. Good friends in your life will happen anyway. You have a great personality and beautiful eyes. Enough people will come and all you have to do is, make those you like the best stay. And with good friends, how can not one someday bring you cake? Live as you do, and all will come to pass and much more.” For a short moment, she was stunned, yet when she walked away there was a light happy bounce in the way she walked.

The Visit of the Wise Woman

The next day a wise woman approached the wizard and sat to drink tea with him. Together they enjoyed looking at the festival from the pillows in his tent. “I notice,” she said, “sour people come away sourer, and happy people come way happier when they visit you. Somehow most of the people in the village are happy because of this. They see your presence as one offering some mild justice, while no one gets how you do it.” The wizard smiled. “It’s not what I do, it’s what they do. I’m only a lazy wizard.” The wise woman smiled. “Better keep doing what you do then.”

The Visit of the Children

That evening a young boy, with about ten friends in tow, visited the wizard. “They say, good sir, that you are a lazy wizard.” The wizard nodded. The boy continued, “Nobody has ever seen you do some magic. And I want to see some, for myself. We all, here present, would love to see something magical, impossible, happen.” All the kids behind him shook their heads with fervor and watched the wizard with anticipation. “Can you all lay your hands in deep silence on the carpet here?” the wizard requested from among his pillows. The kids all put their hands down with eagerness and then some fear entered their eyes. What was going to happen? One kid kept looking in between the wizard and his hands. Another first stared at his fingers. Were those snakes they were turning into? A greedy one was hoping for money to turn up, as he had his hand palms upwards. Each kid had a different experience, yet all were taken by this moment of expectation.

The wizard put a finger to his nose while thinking deeply. Outside in the evening birds were whistling, a dog barked shortly in de distance and the wind ruffled leaves in a tree nearby. Meanwhile his face made expressions that seemed to indicate one trick might be too hard, another not nice, another painful even, and another perhaps just too boring. Tensions rose and by now all young people eyed his every little move. Then, just when one of the children was about to speak, the wizard said, “Ah!” He smiled at the children. “You can all relax now and take your hands back.” The young people all sat up straight and wonder what was going to happen next. “Wasn’t that a magical moment!? Did you hear that silence?” the wizard said. “What was the magic then?” the young boy demanded. “Tell your parents exactly what happened and how long the silence lasted, and they’ll tell you how magical that was.”

“No, no, no!” the young boy protested, “That is too easy!” The wizard rose to full length and all kids did a step backward, except the protesting leader. He then squatted in front of the boy so they were eye to eye. “You try it. You try this with your friends and see. It takes years and years of training and old age to be capable of such feats.” The boy almost snarled and turned to his friends. “Okay, everyone is silent for five minutes and with your hands on the ground!” His friends laughed at him, some protested even. He wasn’t the wizard, was he? With a noisy big discussion, they left back to their homes.

The Visit of the Widow

Later that evening an old widow came by. She wanted to know if it was at all possible to get her husband back. The wizard offered her tea and they drank together. She told stories of what loving kind man he had been and what a annoyance his loud farts had been. They laughed together about some good stories and she cried over the sad. The wizard listened. At long last he said, “You know, no magic can bring back the dead, nor end human tragedy. I hope you realize, that the tragedy of being a widow happens as long as you cling to his death. And at the same time, he is still alive in your stories. So be happy you had a great husband, shared wonderful times and now try to live forward into each new day you still have on this planet. And each time you want to bring him along, tell one of these stories. Clinging to your loss is death. Sharing the best of him, when appropriate of course, is being alive.” With that the wizard winked at her. She acted all coy, as it awakened the woman in her. With that the wizard smiled and waved her out of his tent.

The Wizard Leaves

One morning the wizard and his tent were gone. The villagers wondered and shared stories about him. In the stories of those whom he had disappointed or who saw him as a charlatan it was proof he had never done anything and never would do anything. In the stories of those he had made happier his magic grew in power. And in those who had brought him food yet never had dared to enter, for sure he was a big wizard. He was living from his profession, no? Upon which a sour people would ask, “Then tell us, what magic did he really do?” Upon which the happy people smiled, winked, “Perhaps take more time, and you’ll see.”

Interested in living a magical life yourself? Here are 10 practical tips.

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