{"product_id":"2940013758889","title":"The Glimpse of Reality","description":"In the fifteenth century A.D.  Gloaming.  An inn on the edge of an\u003cbr\u003eItalian lake.  A stone cross with a pedestal of steps.  A very old\u003cbr\u003efriar sitting on the steps.  The angelus rings.  The friar prays\u003cbr\u003eand crosses himself.  A girl ferries a boat to the shore and comes\u003cbr\u003eup the bank to the cross.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  Father: were you sent here by a boy from--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR [in a high, piping, but clear voice]  I'm a very old man.\u003cbr\u003eOh, very old.  Old enough to be your great grandfather, my\u003cbr\u003edaughter.  Oh, very very old.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  But were you sent here by a boy from--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.  Quite a boy, he was.  Very\u003cbr\u003eyoung.  And I'm very old.  Oh, very very old, dear daughter.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  Are you a holy man?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR [ecstatically]  Oh, very holy.  Very, very, very, very\u003cbr\u003eholy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  But have you your wits still about you, father?  Can you\u003cbr\u003eabsolve me from a great sin?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  Oh yes, yes, yes.  A very great sin.  I'm very old; but\u003cbr\u003eIve my wits about me.  I'm one hundred and thirteen years old, by\u003cbr\u003ethe grace of Our Lady; but I still remember all my Latin; and I can\u003cbr\u003ebind and loose; and I'm very very wise; for I'm old and have left\u003cbr\u003efar behind me the world, the flesh, and the devil.  You see I am\u003cbr\u003eblind, daughter; but when a boy told me that there was a duty for\u003cbr\u003eme to do here, I came without a guide, straight to this spot, led\u003cbr\u003eby St Barbara.  She led me to this stone, daughter.  It's a\u003cbr\u003ecomfortable stone to me: she has blessed it for me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  It's a cross, father.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR [piping rapturously]  Oh blessed, blessed, ever blessed\u003cbr\u003ebe my holy patroness for leading me to this sacred spot.  Is there\u003cbr\u003eany building near this, daughter?  The boy mentioned an inn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  There is an inn, father, not twenty yards away.  It's\u003cbr\u003ekept by my father, Squarcio.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  And is there a barn where a very very old man may sleep\u003cbr\u003eand have a handful of peas for his supper?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  There is bed and board both for holy men who will take\u003cbr\u003ethe guilt of our sins from us.  Swear to me on the cross that you\u003cbr\u003eare a very holy man.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  I'll do better than that, daughter.  I'll prove my\u003cbr\u003eholiness to you by a miracle.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  A miracle!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  A most miraculous miracle.  A wonderful miracle!  When I\u003cbr\u003ewas only eighteen years of age I was already famous for my\u003cbr\u003edevoutness.  When the hand of the blessed Saint Barbara, which was\u003cbr\u003echopped off in the days when the church was persecuted, was found\u003cbr\u003eat Viterbo, I was selected by the Pope himself to carry it to Rome\u003cbr\u003efor that blessed lady's festival there; and since that my hand has\u003cbr\u003enever grown old.  It remains young and warm and plump whilst the\u003cbr\u003erest of my body is withered almost to dust, and my voice is cracked\u003cbr\u003eand become the whistling you now hear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  Is that true?  Let me see.  [He takes her hand in his.\u003cbr\u003eShe kneels and kisses it fervently]  Oh, it's true.  You are a\u003cbr\u003esaint.  Heaven has sent you in answer to my prayer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  As soft as your neck, is it not?  [He caresses her\u003cbr\u003eneck].\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  It thrills me: it is wonderful.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  It thrills me also, daughter.  That, too, is a miracle\u003cbr\u003eat my age.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE GIRL.  Father--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE FRIAR.  Come closer, daughter.  I'm very very old and very very\u003cbr\u003every deaf: you must speak quite close to my ear if you speak low.\u003cbr\u003e[She kneels with her breast against his arm and her chin on his\u003cbr\u003eshoulder].  Good.  Good.  Thats better.  Oh, I'm very very old.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083168202992,"sku":"2940013758889","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013758889_p0.jpg?v=1763589855","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013758889","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}