The Wonder-Working Magician

Abstract

In a Rome where the first Christian communities are beginning to emerge, Cipriano, inclined to study, discovers a passage from Pliny's Natural History (II, V) that contains a definition of the one God. On the other hand, he loves Justina, a Christian who rejects all her suitors, including Cipriano. This, in love, sells his soul to the Devil to get his love. Cipriano, already turned into a "magician" (magician) after a year of study with the devil, conjures Justina, while the Devil tries to make her go to meet Cipriano without success, since she is protected by a force superior to that of the angel fallen, that of God. Instead of sending Justina himself, the devil has to content himself with summoning a ghost in Justina's guise, who attends the love encounter. When Cipriano holds her in his arms, Justina's figure is just a skeleton that disappears. Cipriano understands the truth of what he left read in Plinio at the beginning of the action and, thanks to the beneficial influence of Justina's Christian firmness, he ends up converting to the new faith. Finally both die martyrs. Translated from the Spanish by Denis Florence Mac-Carthy.