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...