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...