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...