Berenice interrupted her tale with a sigh. “I wish I could stop right here. But a story must be as true to itself as any fiction.
“There was, after all, a third strand in Hubert’s life that the Boyens’ generosity couldn’t immediately benefit: his ardent wish, actually more of a tyrannical obsession, to somehow transmit to his fellow human beings his inspiring experience in the park. This was a project that Rachel was eager to abet. He had spoken cautiously to Constance and Bellamy about what had happened. They had listened encouragingly, but with no sign of recognizing the magnitude of the experience in Hubert’s life.
“With Rachel, Hubert at first tried to determine places and times where the original conditions of his revelation might reappear (its effect on him was still vivid). They studied weather reports and forecasts, they took trips to places near their town where windless sunshine was predicted. They found only very faint winds and pleasant warmth, never the ‘reverse wind’ that immobilized the air and all it touched. This was no way to bring Hubert’s new cognizance to the world.
“They sought professional help. They called on communicators in various fields, teachers, priests and pastors, publicists, journalists, theater people. Since the two of them were serious and polite, most of those consulted listened to them and then invariably tried to enroll them in their own work. The teachers invited them to participate in their seminars (that is, work as unpaid assistants); the holy men urged them to convert; publicists insisted the couple hire them; journalists looked for a story. Hubert and Rachel also wrote to noted iconoclasts in other fields — R. D. Laing, for instance, and Werner Erhard, then living in England. The ‘antipsychiatrist’ hailed Hubert’s story as further evidence of the primacy of personal experience. The founder of est recognized their need as a familiar one: he recommended creating a succession of artificial situations that would stimulate sensations and feelings like Hubert’s. He thought it would help if they grounded their work on a firm, if discreet, philosophical basis, the way Plato in the dialogue called Meno justified his teaching a young slave geometry by the mechanics of anamnesis.
“Neither Hubert nor Rachel had such precise knowledge of philosophy and knew better than to try acquiring it now. They decided to apply Erhard’s suggestion utilizing simple description. With Sir Bellamy’s help, they found a small auditorium they could rent by the day; they had a flyer printed announcing the presentation of a personal ‘life experience’ that they considered ‘highly interesting and potentially useful to anyone with an open mind.’ They placed the flyer in neighborhood shops and restaurants. Constance sent invitations to friends she felt might respond favorably — in doing this her expectations were low, but she encouraged their guests with the reassurance that she and Bellamy would both attend.
“So it was that at six o’clock on a weekday evening twelve people were assembled in the rather bleak room that Sir Bellamy had rented. Constance had brightened it up with vases of chrysanthemums set on either end of the long table behind which Rachel and Hubert were seated. The audience consisted of Constance and Bellamy, three of their friends, and — presumably drawn by the flyer — three down-at-heels middle-aged persons as well as a couple about twenty years old, well-dressed in the untraditional fashion of the decade.
“Rachel was the first to address the gathering, briefly relating the background of the present event, then presenting Hubert at greater length and testifying to his sincerity and the esteem in which she held him.
“Rachel spoke well: simply and cheerfully. This could not be said of Hubert. His nature was compounded of discretion and shyness, and genuine modesty, too; never before had he been in a position where his own life was set center stage. He swallowed his words or tripped over them; he could not hide the embarrassment that possessed him. Rachel tried prompting him, but it made no difference. A restless boredom descended on the Boeyens’ guests and the middle-aged strangers. Constance and Bellamy themselves felt a quirky mixture of sadness and irritation. Only the young couple remained attentive, smiling, sometimes giggling and making encouraging noises. When Hubert shamefacedly ended his talk, the young pair’s vigorous applause stood out from the desultory clapping of the others. As the meeting broke up, Constance heard the young woman say to her companion, ‘They’re right — the world has got to be let in on this.’ Constance wasn’t sure of the tone in which these words were spoken.
“Two more presentations were scheduled, one on each of the following weeks. After doing what they could to reassure Hubert that his fiasco was not definitive, Rachel and the Boeyens insisted that he prepare diligently for these appearances. Bellamy had made numerous speeches in his time, obviously not of this sort, but he had learned some basic rules. ‘Write out what you want to say and reread it until you have the shape of it in your bones. If you have to, jot down notes that you can glance at while you’re speaking to keep yourself on track. Above all, rehearse.’
“Hubert did his best to follow this advice. It helped, but not much.
“The audience at the second event was unlike the first, and bigger: over twenty seats were filled. The young couple had enrolled many of their friends, who like them called themselves ‘hip’ or ‘cool.’ They received Rachel’s introduction with sympathetic smiles. When Hubert began narrating his experience in the park, the smiles changed gradually but inexorably to laughter, gentle at first, then filled with a kind of incredulous enthusiasm. For some reason these young adults found the account of Hubert
