rel="nofollow" href="#litres_trial_promo">Chapter 94
With the exception of the prologue and the epilogue, the material contained in this book was first published in a column entitled ‘Maktub’, which appeared in Folha de São Paulo between 1993 and 1996 as well as in various other newspapers in Brazil and elsewhere.
The disciple is not above his master; but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
LUKE 6: 40
‘Just off the beach to the west of the village lies an island, and on it is a vast temple with many bells,’ said the woman.
The boy noticed that she was dressed strangely and had a veil covering her head. He had never seen her before.
‘Have you ever visited that temple?’ she asked. ‘Go there and tell me what you think of it?’
Seduced by the woman’s beauty, the boy went to the place she had indicated. He sat down on the beach and stared out at the horizon, but he saw only what he always saw: blue sky and ocean.
Disappointed, he walked to a nearby fishing village and asked if anyone there knew about an island and a temple.
‘Oh, that was many years ago, when my great-grandparents were alive,’ said an old fisherman. ‘There was an earthquake, and the island was swallowed up by the sea. But although we can no longer see the island, we can still hear the temple bells when the ocean sets them swinging down below.’
The
