The Unlightable Candle

Armen the Acolyte cleared his throat. “The night before an acolyte says his vows, he must stand a vigil in the vault. No lantern is permitted him, no torch, no lamp, no taper... only a candle of obsidian. He must spend the night in darkness, unless he can light that candle. Some will try. The foolish and the stubborn, those who have made a study of these so-called higher mysteries. Often they cut their fingers, for the ridges on the candles are said to be as sharp as razors. Then, with bloody hands, they must wait upon the dawn, brooding on their failure. Wiser men simply go to sleep, or spend their night in prayer, but every year there are always a few who must try.”

“Yes.” Pate had heard the same stories. “But what’s the use of a candle that casts no light?”

“It is a lesson,” Armen said, “the last lesson we must learn before we don our maester’s chains. The glass candle is meant to represent truth and learning, rare and beautiful and fragile things. It is made in the shape of a candle to remind us that a maester must cast light wherever he serves, and it is sharp to remind us that knowledge can be dangerous. Wise men may grow arrogant in their wisdom, but a maester must always remain humble. The glass candle reminds us of that as well. Even after he has said his vow and donned his chain and gone forth to serve, a maester will think back on the darkness of his vigil and remember how nothing that he did could make the candle burn... for even with knowledge, some things are not possible.”

Notes:

A metaphor for the unreachability of some knowledge.

Folksonomies: knowledge initiation

Taxonomies:
/hobbies and interests/arts and crafts/candle and soap making (0.405488)
/home and garden/home furnishings/lamps and lighting (0.392748)
/society/unrest and war (0.355595)

Keywords:
candle (0.944783 (positive:0.332458)), glass candle (0.845354 (positive:0.632318)), Candle A metaphor (0.800749 (negative:-0.470657)), so-called higher mysteries (0.792073 (negative:-0.468959)), candle burn (0.721864 (neutral:0.000000)), bloody hands (0.617924 (negative:-0.273978)), Wiser men (0.609435 (positive:0.381512)), fragile things (0.591953 (positive:0.722085)), maester’s chains (0.583929 (negative:-0.321452)), Wise men (0.583800 (positive:0.320149)), acolyte (0.550777 (neutral:0.000000)), night (0.536279 (neutral:0.000000)), vigil (0.521143 (neutral:0.000000)), knowledge (0.518652 (negative:-0.003698)), darkness (0.498305 (neutral:0.000000)), lesson (0.475356 (negative:-0.321452)), Armen (0.466233 (positive:0.223854)), stubborn (0.458080 (negative:-0.659983)), razors (0.455792 (neutral:0.000000)), ridges (0.454990 (neutral:0.000000)), taper (0.454934 (negative:-0.402867)), throat (0.454846 (neutral:0.000000)), Pate (0.453300 (neutral:0.000000)), obsidian (0.450573 (neutral:0.000000)), torch (0.450151 (negative:-0.435726)), vows (0.449710 (neutral:0.000000)), lantern (0.449025 (neutral:0.000000)), fingers (0.448451 (neutral:0.000000)), vow (0.447467 (negative:-0.409526)), lamp (0.446616 (negative:-0.469571))

Entities:
Armen:Person (0.890141 (positive:0.223854)), Pate:Person (0.731517 (neutral:0.000000))

Concepts:
Learning (0.924639): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Lighting (0.916930): website | dbpedia | freebase
Candle (0.812598): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
Light (0.662368): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc
2002 in music (0.638944): dbpedia
Knowledge (0.632023): dbpedia | freebase
Superhero (0.629746): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc | yago
Fire (0.621277): dbpedia | freebase

 A Feast for Crows
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Martin, George R.R. (2005-11-08), A Feast for Crows, Random House LLC, Retrieved on 2014-04-30
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: fiction


    Schemas

    22 MAR 2014

     Orders of Mental Discipline

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     5