The Wizard and the Sylph - Page 270/573

"Consider:

"You recall that minstrel who played wondrous, fair music on his flute, in the Hall of the Steward, when first we arrived in Lund? How its sound filled that room, and how that artist moved everyone present to bittersweet tears as he played his lament?

"Yet how could all that sound come from such a small thing? Think of it! A flute is merely a hollow piece of wood with holes, about the length of your forearm. And there is but one small aperture, about as wide across as the nail of your little finger, from whence that sound originates! Yet from that tiny place and the controlled disturbance of air comes sound and music and wonder enough to fill a hall and capture the imagination!

"The effort expended is but a small thing, meanwhile, and is a matter of precise control, whereas the struggles of an inexpert flautist show a far greater expenditure of energies. This is just as true of magic.

"We call what the flautist does music, but the music we hear is the soul of the performer himself, and the flute is the means by which he articulates the spirit of his inner being. Take away his flute, and he will be left whistling, for his own entertainment, alone. In the same breath, take away a wizard's staff, and he will be left looking for other means to articulate his magical arts.