e is the Prior! Aloof, without peer, dwelling on
the summits of human knowledge, and... well, you'll see him soon.

STRANGER. Is it true that he's so old?

CONFESSOR. He's reached an unusual age. He was born at the beginning of
the century that's now nearing its end.

STRANGER. Has he always been in the monastery?

CONFESSOR. No. He's not always been a monk, though always a priest. Once
he was a minister, but that was seventy years ago. Twice curator of the
university. Archbishop.... 'Sh! Mass is over.

STRANGER. I presume he's not the kind of unprejudiced priest who
pretends to have vices when he has none?

CONFESSOR. Not at all. But he's seen life and mankind, and he's more
human than priestly.

STRANGER. And the fathers?

CONFESSOR. Wise men, with strange histories, and none of them alike.

STRANGER. Who can never have known life as it's lived....

CONFESSOR. All have lived their lives, more than once; have suffered
shipwreck, started again, gone to pieces and risen once more. You must
wait.

STRANGER. The Prior's sure to ask me questions. I don't think I can
agree to everything.

CONFESSOR. On the contrary, you must show yourself as you are; and
defend your opinions to the last.

STRANGER. Will contradiction be permitted here?

CONFESSOR. Here? You're a child, who's lived in a childish world, where
you've played with thoughts and words. You've lived in the erroneous
belief that language, a material thing, can be a vehicle for anything
so subtle as thoughts and feelings. We've discovered that error, and
therefore speak as little as possible; for we are aware of, and can
divine, the innermost thoughts of our neighbour. We've so developed
our perceptive faculties by spiritual exercises that we are linked in
a single chain; and can detect a feeling of pleasure and harmony,
when there's complete accord. The Prior, who has trained himself most
rigorously, can feel if anyone's thoughts have strayed into wrong paths.
In some respects he's like--merely like, I say--a telephone engineer's
galvanometer, that shows when and where a current has been interrupted.
Therefore we can have no secrets from one another, and so do not need
the confessional. Think of all this when you confront the searching eye
of the Prior!

STRANGER. Is there any intention of examining me?

CONFESSOR. Oh no. There are merely a few questions to answer without any
deep meaning, before the practical examinations. Quiet! Here they are.