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.