Clark and Dale were staying in the same room in hospital. Clark was so sick that he could not even move his body. He had to spend all his time lying on his back. Dale could sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon. His bed was next to the room's only window.
Over time, Clark and Dale became good friends. Every afternoon, Dale would look out of the room's only window, describing the scenery outside for his friend. He told Clark about the flowers in a park outside the window, the people walking by, the green trees beside the roads—anything that might interest a man.
On morning, when a nurse came only to check the two men, she found that Dale had died in his sleep. As soon as the room seemed tidy again. Clark asked if he could move to the bed next to the window so that he could look out of the window himself. The nurse agreed. Slowly, he could take his first look at the world outside. To his surprise, he could see nothing but a blank wall of another building.
The nurse explained that Dale had been blind. He had never seen anything outside the window at all—but he described beautiful scenes to help his friend better.
