English Language · English

Read the following passage carefully: 'In a dim workshop sat an old scribe who balanced two tools on his desk: a candle and a ledger. The candle burned slowly, its light enough to trace words but not enough to dazzle. The ledger carried debts and dues, written in a hand so exact that even a misplaced dot had its place explained. Apprentices mocked him for writing by candle rather than lantern, for refusing to erase old debts even when no collector remained. "Why carry the burden of shadows?" they laughed. But the scribe replied, "Light that blinds cannot guide, and numbers that vanish cannot teach." Once, a wealthy patron ordered him to adjust figures so the account showed profit where there was none. The candle guttered as if in protest, and the scribe declined, saying, "Ink may dry, but its stain will outlast my breath." The patron withdrew, leaving coins behind on the table, which the scribe returned unopened. Years later, when a fire swept through the quarter, the lantern-lit offices burned with ledgers crisped into ash. Yet in the scribe's chamber, the single candle had left its mark—burnt rings on wood, but the ledger, wrapped in plain cloth, survived. Families rebuilt accounts from his careful entries, and disputes settled with fewer quarrels than rumours might have caused. When the scribe's final day came, he left the candle half-burnt and the ledger half-filled, telling his pupils: "The measure of life is not how bright you burn or how much you erase, but how steadily you hold a line." What is the most appropriate title for the passage?