The Wizard of Wise

The young boy hurried after the old wizard, listening as they rushed up the narrow street through town. What he was listening to was the words bubbling out of the old wizard. He was asking questions. Lots of questions. Questions about everything they walked past and some, seemingly, random questions about nothing in particular.

The old wizard was known as the Wizard of Wise and the young man was his new apprentice. He wanted to be a wizard one day – a good one – just like the Wizard of Wise.

It took time, but the boy slowly became accustomed to the way the wizard worked, lived and taught. At first, it was very confusing because the Wizard of Wise seemed to know nothing. He was always asking questions.

Why do you wear shoes?
Why do you eat cereal for breakfast?
Why is fire hot and ice cold?

The old wizard would mutter these questions to himself as he worked in the Wise Wizard Shoppe and wandered along through town. The young apprentice was not sure if he was meant to answer the questions or if the old man was just babbling. Some of the questions were thought provoking. Some of them were completely ridiculous.

Why do wagons have wheels?
Why do fingers have nails?
Why do you keep following me?

After the young man had lived alongside the old wizard for a few weeks, he realised that each day the Wizard of Wise was teaching a new lesson and repeating the lesson through his many questions.

On the many days about potions, he asked: Why is milk warm from the cow? Why is water cold from the well? Why is honey sticky? Why does oil burn?

On the days about powders, he asked: Why does dust settle? Why does chilli make me cry? Why are salt and sugar added to things?

Every day while running the Wise Wizard Shoppe, he asked: Why do people buy things? Why do some people look for low prices and others for high prices? Why do people smile when they make a purchase?

Years later, the young man was an old man and taking on an apprentice of his own. He had become just like his teacher. He too was a Wizard of Wise. As he walked up the street through town with the boy toward the Wise Wizard’s Shoppe, he was rattling off questions under his breath and suddenly remembered his first day. He stopped, turned and smiled at the young apprentice.

The young man had been moving so quickly to keep up, he nearly walked straight into the wizard.

The wizard, finally understanding his many years of training, realised the amazing importance of one seemingly random question that he had heard the old wizard ask many times every day of his life. Pointing his bony finger in the boy’s face, with a crooked smile the new Wizard of Wise said, “Why is why better than what or how?” Then he turned, in a flurry of wizard cloak and road dust, and continued his journey, his learning and his questions.