Steven Millhauser

Eisenheim, I don't want to arrest you. I'm a cynical man, God knows… but if your manifestations are somehow real… then even I'm willing to admit, you're a very special person. And if it's a trick, then it's equally impressive. Either way, you have a gift. So don't make me put you in jail!

As you know… we some times follow Duchess Von Teschen for her protection… Yesterday she was seen in the company of another man…

In the name of his Imperial Majesty in the city of Vienna, I hereby arrest Edward Abramovich, also known as Eisenheim The Illusionist, on charges of disturbing public order, charlatanism and threats against the empire.

As a boy, I'm told, he had a chance encounter with a travelling magician. One version of the story was that the man himself vanished... along with the tree. People began to think he had some sort of special power... or at least that he was a bit different. And then he met her.

You know, I have seen things like this before… but never one like that.

From the moment we enter this life we are in the flow of it. We measure it and we mark it, but we cannot defy it. We cannot even speed it up or slow it down. Or can we? Have we not each experienced the sensation that a beautiful moment seemed to pass to quickly, and wished that we could make it linger? Or felt time slow on a dull day, and wished that we could speed things up a bit?

Everything you have seen here has been an illusion.

Everything you've seen is an illusion, it's a trick.

I was meant to return... I just... I kept thinking I'll find around the next corner...

A real mystery. I saw remarkable things but the only mystery I never solved was... why my heart couldn't let go of you.

I thought we might end this evening with a discussion of the soul. All of the greatest religions speak of the soul's endurance before the end of life. So what then does it mean to die?

My intention has only been to entertain, nothing more.