The Age of Magic Read Online Free PDF

his utmost attention.
    ‘I think he appeared to me mainly because he was interested to hear exactly how I would pose the question.’
    Jim drew a deep breath and, very gently, said:
    ‘It was the greatest moment of my life.’
    ‘Jim!’ cried Lao, unable to contain his astonishment.
    Jim chuckled and tapped the poet on his forearm.
    ‘You would never have guessed it to look at me, would you?’
    Lao shook his head, quite dumbfounded. Then realising that Jim could not see the gesture, he said:
    ‘No, Jim, I wouldn’t have.’
    Jim chuckled again.
    ‘Failure often leads us to the most interesting places,’ he said, with mischievous timing.
    They had arrived at the hotel.
    One of Lao’s lasting regrets was that he didn’t ask Jim how he had posed the great question. For Jim never opened himself to Lao in that way ever again.

10
    They staggered down from the coach and, working together as a group, they lugged the camera equipment and baggage into the hotel lobby.
    It was a modest family hotel on the edge of Lake Lucerne. The owner was a pleasant middle-aged down-to-earth man called Hans. With his fine moustache, he could have played a medieval innkeeper in a European movie. He was charming to the weary film crew but treated Lao with a certain undefined suspicion.
    They were checked in, allocated their rooms, and encouraged to inspect them. They were all delighted with their accommodation and Hans made sure they were comfortably settled, and arranged for the carrying of their luggage to their various rooms.
    Lao felt left outside this ring of affection. He was convinced that Hans behaved differently towards him. He listened with an ironic smile to the crew members talking about how excellent the hotel was and how nice Hans had been to them. Lao did not feel that Hans had been so nice to him. He felt the others could not see this because Hans’s attitude was visible to him alone.
    As what is not seen is not believed, there were no witnesses to this double-handed treatment. Lao didn’t make a fuss because he knew he would only come across as paranoid or oversensitive. And so he decided, as he always did, to bear the matter with dignity. He decided also to try to win Hans over with charm. But to be on the safe side he asked Mistletoe to deal with the hotel owner on their behalf. Mistletoe didn’t mind.
    They had been allocated rooms which Lao insisted on changing till he found one which was acceptable. He finally settled for a room on the first floor, a lovely double room with a fine balcony and a perfect view of the lake and the Rigi mountain. And it was, auspiciously, room seven.
    After Lao and Mistletoe had settled in, they had their showers, changed into fresh clothes, and went out on to the balcony.
    The mountain was not visible. It was simply a great looming darkness, festooned with twinkling lights, like stars clustered in a nebula. Sprinkled across the invisible mountain were constellations of small towns.
    The shimmering waters of the lake made a magical contrast to the dark mass of the mountain. Lao contemplated the nature of water, its responsiveness, the way it transforms its environment. Mistletoe, seated a short distance away from him, surrendered herself to a sense of wonder and timelessness. The lake cast a spell over the world.
    In their own rooms, the other members of the crew were experiencing the same wonder as they gazed out across the lake.
    Nature had begun to work on them, loosening the holds of their demons, making them feel lighter. For some this brought moments of joy, to others terror. To some their demons are an intrinsic part of what they are; to lose their demons would be to lose their identity.
    The silence of the mountains makes inward troubles apparent. Many prefer motion to stillness.
    Lao and Mistletoe preferred stillness. As they sat on their balcony they realised they had forgotten what it was like to stare in uncomplicated wonder, at a lake in the dark, at lights on a mountainside,