Part 3

The old man read the entire communication and collapsed onto a log-stool in a mild state of shock. When this passed, he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted into the air: “Why me?”
He then looked to the brightest star in the sky and decoded: “Because you are alone.”
After his first encounter with the stars, Nishan learned many things from them every night. This knowledge he gathered was so secret that no man had ever even dreamt of it, nor has any since. In the space of a few weeks he amassed such a quantity of knowledge that he desired to reenter the world in spite of his banishment. So, after packing his meager remaining possessions into a red-and-white spotted bag slung over a stick, he made his way down the precipitous slope that surrounded his house. When he arrived at the side of a road bordering the hill, he observed a dumpy little man driving two donkeys ahead of his cart. He hailed the carter, saying: “Hello there, O carter! I am unfortunately stricken with a broken hip. Would you be kind enough to transport me into the capital?”
The carter was a little taken aback by this, as he had not expected to see an insane-looking old man jump out from behind the bushes. Then, to answer the old man’s request, he said: “My wife once told me that those who have broken hips are unable to walk, but as I am going to the capital anyway, I’ll take you as far as the outer walls.”