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Music It's early on January 8, 1800, in the village of Averro, a district of southern France.

In a tiny workshop, a middle-aged man leans over the hearth to light a fire.

He's a cloth dyer by trade, and he has a long day's work ahead of him. But first, he wants to make himself a little more comfortable.

It's a cold morning, and even inside the workshop, it's barely above freezing.

As the fire takes, he smiles with pleasure, flexing his fingers in its heat.

Behind him, the workshop door creeps open.

A gust of cold air scatters the flames and the heart.

The dire scowls think it's just the wind, and he turns to kick the door shut.

Then he cries out.

Crawling through the door and into the workshop is a small boy. At first glance, he looks to be

around nine or ten years old, but he's so thin it's hard to tell. The mass of dark, matted hair

covers his head. His nails are long like claws, and his naked body is caked in dirt. The child

stares up at the cloth dire, the two of them saying nothing as they warily eye each other.

But then the cloth dire catches the boy's eyes dark to the workbench, where an apple gleams in the firelight there.

Man picks up the fruit and offers it to the boy.

But again, he just stares.

So the dire holds out the apple, urging the boy to take it,

but still the boy doesn't speak and doesn't move. Eventually, the dyer puts the apple on the ground

...