elasticity of the earth. Green, green... The color of life is wonderful!

Cheerful little birds jumped about me, chirping. They irritated me by their teasing chattering. I felt as helpless as a trapped beast. The darkness was immense, thick, suffocating. I turned to my memory for help and tried to recollect some old fragments of pictures stored in my mind. But my mind was a blur. I understood for the first time that actually I had been blind since long ago. Day after day I bustled on proudly wearing a pair of ornaments and saw nothing. The beauty, the loveliness had escaped me long ago. It was in darkness that I first saw myself. How pitiably blind I had always been! The awareness wrenched my heart with a sharp twinge.

The day I got rid of the bandages on my eyes was unforgettably splendid. I opened my eyes timidly, amazed by the glorious world bathed in the sun. At that time I saw, I saw rippling grass with dripping greenness, I saw little sparrows hopping here and there, bobbing their heads up and down, I saw the vast sky peacefully looking down at me with that purity and dignity which refined my soul. I was so grateful that my eyes were blurred with tears. Being blind once had forced me to discover the blindness in my soul; at the cost of pain I tasted again the sweetness of life. What a blessing!