In the Holy Grail mythos, the Fisher King, holder of the cup of Christ, has a wound in his side that doesn't heal. When Parzival (or someone else, depending on who wrote the version you're reading) sees the King in bed next to a rusty lance and a cup, he has to ask a question. He's supposed to ask about the King's health, but of course he doesn't, he asks about the rusty lance, thereby disqualifying himself as being spiritually ready to take the Grail, and fucking everything up. Also prompting Tim Powers to write "What is this, you take the low road and I crawl in the goddam dirt?" (from Earthquake Weather).

The wound that never heals on me is on my heel. I never wear shoes, really, and the dead skin on my heel is cracked open. Some nights I try to peel away the dead skin underneath, but it just starts bleeding again, and makes everything worse.

It's only in my heel, but damn it sucks to walk when your heel is split open. I wonder if Achilles ever had this problem.

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