The God's Script by Jorge Luis Borges - a five pager raising a bundle of philosophical questions.
High Aztec priest and magician Tzinacán narrates the tale of his time in prison with a jaguar in the adjacent cell, years spent in solitude following torture sessions at the hands of the Spaniard Pedro de Alvarado who destroyed the great Aztec pyramid at Qaholom.
Tzinacán desires to reverse fate and assume supreme control, thus he searches for the magic formula hidden in the jaguar's spots that will empower him to, among other mighty deeds, tear Pedro de Alvarado to pieces.
Ah, that magnificent formula! "To say it would suffice to abolish this stone prison, to have daylight break into my night, to be young, to be immortal, to have the tiger's jaws crush Alvarado, to sink the sacred knife into the breasts of Spaniards, to reconstruct the pyramid, to reconstruct the empire."
However, Tzinacán has a dream wherein he comes to realize the nature of the dreamlike reality of his life, of all of life. As part of the dream he sees an infinite Wheel made of water and also fire. "Oh bliss of understanding, greater than the bliss of imagining or feeling."
Tzinacán now knows the formula giving him the power to effect his murderous desires. But he realizes something more profound, a sacred something transcending all notions of formulas and power.
Regarding the exact nature of Tzinacán's ultimate realization, you'll have to read this tale for yourself. Link: https://posthegemony.files.wordpress....
(Can be found in the collection entitled The Aleph under the title of The Writing of the God)
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