THE OTHER MAGUS CHAPTER TWO
The novel's hero has met the Magus in wartime Cairo. The Magus is of the East, and he talks to Harold of the West's need to change. Now, more than seventy years later, this is true of both East and West. It is true of our modern frenzied world:
The old man waves his hand between them. ‘I have travelled in your West. I admire your cities. I admire the fact that everything works. I cherish the greenness of your countryside. All your lands are oases. Yes, my friend; we indeed must learn from you. We must learn not to accept the fact that our children might die. Like you, we must seek to understand disease and cure disease and thereby save our children. But so you must learn from us. Your people have been restless for too long. You have made great discoveries and invented extraordinary machines. Now you are powerful. But still you are restless. You are wealthy, and yet still you are dissatisfied, and thus you fight each other for more wealth. You are all-powerful, yet still you fight each other in order to dominate. I want my people to be intrigued again by their world. I want your people to be reconciled with it.’
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