Story of Ahab and St. Savin (from The Devil and Miss Prym)

So, St.Savin went to Viscos to save one's soul, that's Ahab, the most powerful leader, and the baddest villain. St.Savin spent a night with Ahab, sleep next to him, proving that not everyone is the same as Ahab. But Ahab, who had known as a killer, never trusted anyone beside himself. So he didn't believe at all at St.Savin, he prepare to kill St.Savin in the middle of the night, so that he couldn't get killed first. But before they went to sleep, they talked a bit. Not a long conversation, but has deep meaning to Ahab's changes.

Ahab:

"If, tonight, the most beautiful prostitute in the village came in here,
would you be able to see her as neither beautiful nor seductive?"

St.Savin:

"No, but I would be able to control myself,"

Ahab: "

And if I offered you a pile of gold coins to leave your cave in the
mountain and come and join us, would you be able to look on that gold
and see only pebbles?"

St.Savin:

"No, but I would be able to control myself."

Ahab:

"And if you were sought by two brothers, one of whom hated you, and the
other who saw you as a saint, would you be able to feel the same towards
them both?"

St. Savin:

"It would be very hard, but I would be able to control myself sufficiently
to treat them both the same."

'They say this dialogue was important in Ahab's conversion to Christianity.' Savin and Ahab had the same instincts - Good and Evil struggled in both of them, just as they did in every soul on the face of the earth. When Ahab realised that Savin was the same as him, he realised too that he
was the same as Savin. It was all a matter of control. And choice. Nothing more and nothing less.

Good and evil was just inside of our heads. It's only the matter of choice. You can be good if you can control yourself well, and can be evil by surrender by the things you know you shouldn't do. It's the matter of how you see a thing.

credit to: Paulo Coelho. Follow his twitter PauloCoelho




A little from The devil and Miss Prym

Chantal closed her book, took a deep breath and offered up a silent prayer, while her heart beat in fear and excitement. Then she got up and followed the stranger, convinced that this would prove to be yet another disappointing encounter, one which started out full of promise and turned into yet another dream of impossible love. The man went over to the Y-shaped rock, indicated the recently dug earth, and suggested she uncover what lay buried there. 'I'll get my hands dirty,' protested Chantal. 'I'll get my dress dirty too.' The man grabbed a branch, broke it and handed it to her to use as a spade. She found such behaviour distinctly odd, but decided to do as he asked. She did as she was told. The man led her to the next hiding place. Again she began digging, and this time was astonished at the quantity of gold she saw before her. 'That's gold too. And it's also mine,' said the stranger. Chantal was beginning to cover the gold over again with soil, when he asked her to leave the hole as it was. He sat down on one of the rocks, lit a cigarette, and stared at the horizon.

(...)

R.N