Majdy was late and I was growing impatient; my agitation was heightened by the drone of voices intermingled with the obnoxious din of the usual night time traffic laboriously making their way through the choking street below. I was about to leave when he appeared suddenly, and took a seat opposite mine. I concealed my irritation and greeted him, but he must have sensed it for he began an elaborate apology which I curtly dismissed. We sat without speaking for a few moments, then the waiter turned up and asked for our order.
"Two milk coffees and a pack of cigarettes will do" said Majdy.
"What kind of cigarettes?" the waiter inquired, and Majdy glanced at me. I told him a brand on a whim and the waiter propmptly disappeared into the dimness of the cafe'.
"So how have you been?" I asked Majdy. "Good, I suppose" he remarked. "I saw the moonrise tonight, it was beautiful"
"That's nice," I mumbled absently.
"You saw it then?" he asked.
"No, I meant it's nice that you were part of a beautiful moment." I replied.
"I see." he mused. "I wonder why though".
"Why what?" I interjected.
"Why I found it beautiful" he said.
We fell silent and I wondered where our orders were.
"Perhaps it wasn't the moon by itself that was beautiful, the atmosphere and my receptiveness might have played a part as well" he spoke after some time.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" I said.
"Why in the eye?" he asked.
"It's just an expression, besides didn't you say you saw the moonrise?"
"Of course, but it doesn't mean that beauty lies in my eye or in any other eye for that matter. I find such expressions misleading".
The waiter re-appeared with a tray and set the items down by us. I sipped some coffee, something that I don't normally drink but it was Friday night and I didn't want to go to bed early, rather I wanted to milk the evening for all it was worth because weekends didn't come often enough.
"I don't know if we mean the same thing when we say of something that it is beautiful. I can't look into your head to see your thoughts. And even If I did, I probably wouldn't recognize beauty because it might be different from my conception of it." I said.
"But you agree that you experience beauty?" he queried.
"I do, I suppose".
“Do you also agree that you can only know something through experience?”
“I suppose so”.
“It doesn’t make any sense to speak of knowing something that you haven’t experienced does it?”
“Well”, I remarked, “There are facts I learn from books-"
“Oh you can’t really know them, can you, you can only have faith in them, that they are true, because you yourself have had no experience of them.”
“Okay”.
"Alright then, let's take an example. You see a sculpture, and you say it is beautiful. So, did it come to be beautiful upon your perception of its beauty or was it beautiful before you perceived it to be so?
"I think it had beauty in it for me to experience it"
"So it was beautiful before you perceived its beauty?" he smiled.
"Yes".
"How do you know that?"
"Well..."
He threw me an especially toothy grin of triumph, and it struck me how long his canines were.
"Two milk coffees and a pack of cigarettes will do" said Majdy.
"What kind of cigarettes?" the waiter inquired, and Majdy glanced at me. I told him a brand on a whim and the waiter propmptly disappeared into the dimness of the cafe'.
"So how have you been?" I asked Majdy. "Good, I suppose" he remarked. "I saw the moonrise tonight, it was beautiful"
"That's nice," I mumbled absently.
"You saw it then?" he asked.
"No, I meant it's nice that you were part of a beautiful moment." I replied.
"I see." he mused. "I wonder why though".
"Why what?" I interjected.
"Why I found it beautiful" he said.
We fell silent and I wondered where our orders were.
"Perhaps it wasn't the moon by itself that was beautiful, the atmosphere and my receptiveness might have played a part as well" he spoke after some time.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" I said.
"Why in the eye?" he asked.
"It's just an expression, besides didn't you say you saw the moonrise?"
"Of course, but it doesn't mean that beauty lies in my eye or in any other eye for that matter. I find such expressions misleading".
The waiter re-appeared with a tray and set the items down by us. I sipped some coffee, something that I don't normally drink but it was Friday night and I didn't want to go to bed early, rather I wanted to milk the evening for all it was worth because weekends didn't come often enough.
"I don't know if we mean the same thing when we say of something that it is beautiful. I can't look into your head to see your thoughts. And even If I did, I probably wouldn't recognize beauty because it might be different from my conception of it." I said.
"But you agree that you experience beauty?" he queried.
"I do, I suppose".
“Do you also agree that you can only know something through experience?”
“I suppose so”.
“It doesn’t make any sense to speak of knowing something that you haven’t experienced does it?”
“Well”, I remarked, “There are facts I learn from books-"
“Oh you can’t really know them, can you, you can only have faith in them, that they are true, because you yourself have had no experience of them.”
“Okay”.
"Alright then, let's take an example. You see a sculpture, and you say it is beautiful. So, did it come to be beautiful upon your perception of its beauty or was it beautiful before you perceived it to be so?
"I think it had beauty in it for me to experience it"
"So it was beautiful before you perceived its beauty?" he smiled.
"Yes".
"How do you know that?"
"Well..."
He threw me an especially toothy grin of triumph, and it struck me how long his canines were.
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