The Mirror That Refused to Show Faces

A wandering merchant carried a mirror that showed everything except the viewer’s face. Instead, it revealed symbols — a flame, a feather, a wave, a stone. People begged for explanations, but the merchant never spoke. One day a child saw a seed in the mirror and giggled. She planted it in the ground. By morning, a tiny sprout grew. The merchant finally spoke: “Faces change. Symbols endure.” He vanished with the mirror, but the seedling remained, growing into a tree reflecting every passerby in its shimmering leaves.