Preserve

"This is the crown jewel of my collection," said the gorgon. "A scholar of old Alexandria, before the sacking and the fire." She took the blind man's hand in her own and guided it over the petrified academic's face. He was surprised to feel no frozen visage of horror, no mouth gaped in screaming. Indeed, it felt like the scholar was posing for a professional portrait.

"He...consented to this?" whispered the blind man in awe.

"I told you, my dear, I'm not a monster, merely a historian. Humanity has a nasty habit of...forgetting things. But stone doesn't forget. Now come, traveler. If I cannot preserve your knowledge for the ages, I might as well feed you."