The Devil and Miss Prym

These are two sub-stories in Paulo Coelho's The Devil and Miss Prym. Some of Coelho's works, I did not get to finish, but this one I couldn't put down. The ending was a bit quick for me, considering the many tales that led to it. Nevertheless, one of the more thought-provoking books I've read :)

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Once, many years ago, a hermit - who later came to be known as St. Savin - lived in one of the caves hereabouts. At the time, Viscos was little more than a frontier post, populated by bandits fleeing from justice, by smugglers and prostitutes, by confidence tricksters in search of accomplices, even by murderers resting between murders. The wickedest of them all, an Arab called Ahab, controlled the whole village and the surrounding area, imposing extortionate taxes on local farmers who still insisted of maintaining a dignified way of life.

One day, Savin came down from his cave, arrived at Ahab's house and asked to spend the night there. Ahab laughed: "You do know that I'm a murderer who has already slit a number of throats, and that your life is worth nothing to me?"

"Yes, I know that," Savin replied, "but I'm tired of living in a cave and I'd like to spend at least one night here with you."

Ahab knew the saint's reputation, which was as great as his own, and this made him uneasy, for he did not like having to share his glory with someone so weak. Thus he determined to kill him that very night, to prove to everyone that he was the one true master of the place.

They chatted for a while. Ahab was impressed by what the saint had to say, but he was a suspicious man who no longer believed in the existence of Good. He showed Savin where he could sleep and then continued menacingly sharpening his knife. After watching him for a few minutes, Savin closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Ahab spent all night sharpening his wife. Next day, when Savin awoke, he found Ahab in tears at his side.

"You weren't afraid of me and you didn't judge me. For the first time ever, someone spent the night by my side trusting that I could be a good man, one ready to offer hospitality to those in need. Because you believed I was capable of behaving decently, I did."

From that moment on, Ahab abandoned his life of crime and set about transforming the region.

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When Leonardo da Vinci was creating the Last Supper, he encountered a serious problem: he had to depict Good - in the person of Jesus - and Evil - in the figure of Judas, the friend who resolves to betray him during the meal. He stopped work on the painting until he could find his ideal models.

One day, when he was listening to a choir, he saw in one of the boys the perfect image of Christ. He invited him to his studio and made sketches and studies of his face.

Three years went by. The Last Supper was almost complete, but Leonardo had still not found the perfect model for Judas. The cardinal responsible for the church started to put pressure on him to finish the mural.

After many days spent vainly searching, the artist came across a prematurely aged youth, in rags and lying drunk in the gutter. With some difficulty, he persuaded his assistants to bring the fellow directly to the church, since there was no time left to make preliminary sketches.

The beggar was taken there, not quite understanding what was going on. He was propped up by Leonardo's assistants, while Leonardo copied the lines of impiety, sin and egotism so clearly etched on his features.

When he had finished, the beggar, who had sobered up slightly, opened his eyes and saw the picture before him. With a mixture of horror and sadness he said:

"I've seen that picture before!"

"When?" asked an astonished Leonardo.

"Three years ago, before I lost everything I had, at a time when I used to sing in a choir and my life was full of dreams. The artist asked me to pose as the model for the face of Jesus."

So you see, Good and Evil have the same face; it all depends on when they cross the path of each individual human being.