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...