naftakin, the blind            
                                   
                                          
 a student  at  the charcoal guild... his 
 eyes sewn shut from  birth...  the  most 
            successful student            
                                          
 but one  day he fell down into a crystal 
 cavern. it  was deep in  the mountain, a 
 great  hall  with  only  a  single  tiny 
 inlet   for  both   light   and  falling 
               students...                
                                          
 in the fall, the  quartz sliced  off the 
 threads in  his  eyes, opening  them for 
 the  first   time.   before   him,   the 
 crystals mirrored and  refracted the one 
 light  smidge  into  a  whole night sky, 
 and  he   was   struck  down  with   awe 
                                          
 but  also  with shame, because his  eyes 
 had  seen.  hurriedly,  he  used  thread 
 from  his   robe   to   sew  them   back 
 together, and  when help came he did not 
        tell of his transgression.        
                                          
 for years he  studied  at the  guild. he 
 became  a master,  and then  a  pilgrim. 
 yet  the image  from the cave never left 
                   him.                   
                                          
 at  the end  of  his life,  when at  the 
 edge of  the  world  he opened his  eyes 
 for a second time,  stars had hatched in 
                  them...