For the first time he was seeing Min's work at close range. There was a duck that would have fit in the palm of his hand, with a tiny hole in its bill. Though it was now a dull gray, so detailed were its features that he found himself half listening for the sound of a quack. Min had carved the clay to form curve of wing and tilt of head. Even the little tail curled up with an impudence that made Tree-ear smile. The last piece on the shelf was the least interesting - a rectangular lidded box as large as his two hands. It was completely undecorated. Disappointed in its plainness, Tree-ear was ready to turn away when a thought struck him. Outside, the box was plain, but perhaps inside...
This ccount of a creative spirit on its journey toward fulfillment is set in twelfth-century Korea, where the course of human destiny could be determined by a single celadon(pottery) shard.