New Beginnings

There once was a woman who lived very happily with her family in a nice little house at the edge of town. She was perfectly content in every way and her life was great. One day, there was a knock on the door and a weary traveller stood outside in the rain, asking for assistance. The woman let him into her house and made some soup and bread, gave him some wine and let him dry his cloak by the fire.

She noticed that he was carrying a very unusual bag with metal inlays and many decorations, and asked him about it. The traveller produced a book from the bag and showed it to the woman. It had pictures in it of things she had never seen, and something woke up inside of her that she had never known before or even thought she wanted to know. A few days after the traveller had gone, she went to the village priest and asked to be taught how to read, and to write.