'Three hundred miles and more from Chimborazo, one hundred from the snows of Cotopaxi, in the wildest wastes of Ecuador's Andes, there lies that mysterious mountain valley, cut off from all the world of men, the Country of the Blind...'

So opens the short story by HG Wells. Nunez arrives in this fabled land by chance and, remembering the proverb ("In the Country of the Blind the One-Eyed Man is King") sets out to rule the valley. He fails. The Blind residents have adapted to the Valley, and he is an outsider. The story ends with his attempted escape on the eve of an operation to 'cure' him of sight - by removing his eyes. But escape is impossible and he is doomed to die.

The original proverb suggests that extra powers or abilities should bring with them power, or the chance to succeed. But as Nunez' descent to death shows, individuals cannot exist alone or by exercising undue power over others. Society, composed of all people regardless of abilities, is more powerful. Or something like that!

I always wonder about that proverb. If everyone is blind what is to stop anyone saying they can see, who would know? Besides if everyone in the country was blind would they understand what sight was?