Honore de Balzac 
Facino Cane 

The short story "Facino Cane" has been categorized as both a "Philosophical Study" and a "Scene of Paris Life" in various editions of French writer Honore de Balzac’s sprawling series The Human Comedy. The narrator is attending a wedding and takes an interest in one of the musicians performing at the event, an elderly blind man with a compellingly wizened visage. After being prompted, the musician, named Marco-Facino Cane, spills his surprising and tragic life story.