Blinded by the Light
- In "Book the Second: Chiaroscuro," our story goes back in time, to the birth of a rat named Chiaroscuro—which means the arrangement of dark and light.
- This rat is born several years before Despereaux shows up in the dungeons, and is one day caught chewing on Gregory's rope.
- Gregory asks Roscuro why no one has taught him the rules. After all, the rats know that Gregory's rope is totally off limits.
- Gregory holds up a match to Roscuro's face and warns him not to touch his rope again. Then he throws the rat into the dark dungeons.
- But Roscuro's been changed by the flame that he saw. He's now completely fascinated by light and illumination…which is kind of weird for a rat, who's supposed to love darkness.
- Roscuro goes to another rat, Botticelli, and tells him that he thinks that the meaning of life might be light. Botticelli scoffs at this and says that the meaning of life is obviously the suffering of others. What a nice guy.
- He swings around a heart-shaped locket and talks about how much fun it is to torture prisoners down in the dungeons. And there will always be prisoners for the rats to torture.