'Who are you?' he asked.
'I am Lucifer,' came the reply.
'And what do you want?'
'It is the hour for prayers, and yet you are still asleep.'
Mo'avia was amazed. Why was the Prince of Darkness, who seeks out the souls of men of little faith, reminding him to fulfil his religious duties?
'Remember,' Lucifer explained, 'I was brought up as an angel of light. Despite everything that has happened to me, I cannot forget my origins. A man may travel to Rome or to Jerusalem, but he always carries the values of his own country in his heart. Well, the same thing happens with me. I still love the Creator, who nourished me when I was young and taught me to do good. When I rebelled against Him, it was not because I did not love Him; on the contrary, I loved Him so much that I felt jealous when He created Adam. At that moment, I wanted to defy the Lord, and that was my downfall; nevertheless, I still remember the blessings bestowed on me and hope that, perhaps, by doing good, I can one day return to paradise.'
Mo'avia replied: 'I can't believe what you're saying. You have been responsible for the destruction of many people on earth.'
'Well, you should believe it,' insisted Lucifer. 'Only God can build and destroy, because He is all-powerful. When He created man, He also created, as part of life, desire, vengeance, compassion, and fear. So when you look at the evil around you, don't blame me; I merely reflect back the bad things that happen.'
Mo'avia was sure that something was wrong, and he began to pray desperately to God to enlighten him. He spent the whole night talking and arguing with Lucifer; but despite the brilliant arguments he heard, he remained unconvinced.
When day was dawning, Lucifer finally gave in and said:
'You're right. When I came yesterday to wake you up so that you would not miss the hour of prayer, my intention was not to bring you closer to the Divine Light. I knew that if you failed to fulfil your obligations, you would feel profoundly sad and, over the next few days, would pray with twice the faith, asking forgiveness for having forgotten the correct ritual. In the eyes of God, each one of those prayers made with love and repentance would be equivalent to two hundred prayers said in an ordinary, automatic way. You would end up more purified and more inspired; God would love you more; and I would be still further from your soul.'
Lucifer vanished, and an angel of light took his place:
'Never forget today's lesson,' the angel said to Mo'avia.
'Sometimes evil comes disguised as an emissary of good, but its real intention is to cause more destruction.'
On that day, and the days that followed, Mo'avia prayed with repentance, compassion, and faith. His prayers were heard a thousand times by God.
The Law of Jante
'What do you think of Princess Martha-Louise?'
The Norwegian journalist was interviewing me on the shores of Lake Geneva. Now, generally speaking, I refuse to answer questions that are unrelated to my work, but there was, in this case, a motive behind his curiosity: the princess had had the names of various people who had been important in her life embroidered on a dress she wore for her thirtieth birthday - and mine was amongst those names (my wife thought it such a good idea that she decided to do the same for her fiftieth birthday, adding the credit 'inspired by the Princess of Norway' in one corner).
'I think she is a sensitive, courteous, intelligent person,' I replied. 'I was fortunate enough to meet her in Oslo, where she introduced me to her husband, who, like myself, is a writer.'
I paused, but then decided to continue.
'There's one thing I don't understand: why has the Norwegian press started attacking his literary work now that he's the princess's husband? Before, he used to get very positive reviews.'
This was not really a question, more a pro
vocation, because I could already imagine what the reply would be. The reason the reviews had changed was envy, that most bitter of human emotions.
The journalist, however, was more sophisticated than that.
'Because he broke the Law of Jante.'
Since I had clearly never heard of this law, he explained what it was. As I continued my journey, I came to realize that it was, indeed, hard to find anyone in the Scandinavian countries who had not heard of the law. It may have existed since the beginning of civilization, but it was only officially set down in written form in 1933 by the writer Aksel Sandemose in his novel A Fugitive Crossing His Tracks.
The sad fact is that the Law of Jante doesn't only exist in Scandinavia. It is a rule that applies all over the world, however much Brazilians may say: 'This could only happen here', and the French may affirm: 'That's just the way it is in France.' Since the reader must, by now, be getting irritated - having read half of this and still having no clear idea what this Law of Jante is - I will try to summarize it here, in my own words: 'You are worthless; no one is interested in what you think, therefore you had better opt for mediocrity and anonymity. Do this, and you will never face any major problems in life.'
The Law of Jante puts into context the feelings of jealousy and envy that can prove so problematic to people like Princess Martha-Louise's husband, Ari Behn. That is just one negative aspect of the law. There is, however, another far more dangerous one.
It is thanks to this law that the world has been manipulated in all kinds of ways by people who are not afraid of what others might say, and who often end up achieving their own evil ends. We have just been witness to a pointless war in Iraq, which continues to cost many lives; we see the great gap that exists between rich countries and poor; everywhere we see social injustice, rampant violence, people forced to give up their dreams because of unwarranted and cowardly attacks. Before starting the Second World War, Hitler signalled his intentions in various ways, and what made him continue with his plans regardless was the knowledge that no one would dare to challenge him - because of the Law of Jante.
Mediocrity can be very comfortable until, one day, tragedy knocks on the door, and then people wonder: 'But why didn't anyone say anything, when everyone could see this was going to happen?'