Prologue I. THE BOOK OF FOG1. 1752, Rohatyn 2· Of calamitous leaf springs and Katarzyna Kossakowska'sfeminine complaint Of bloodstained silks The white end of the table at Starosta Labçcki‘s3. Of Asher Rubin and his gloomy thoughts The beehive, or: The home of the Shorr family in Rohatyn In the beth midrash Yente, or: Not a good time to die What we read in the Zohar Of the swallowed amulet 4.Pharo and Mariage Polonia est paradisus Judaeorum Of the presbytery in Firlejow and the sinful pastor living in it Father Chmielowski tries to write a letter to Mrs. Druzbacka Elzbieta Druzbacka writes to Father Chmielowski Bishop Kajetan Soltyk writes a letter to the papal nuncio Zelik II. THE BOOK OF SAND5.Of how the world was born of God's exhaustion Scraps, or: A $t0Ty born of travels exhaustion, by Nahman Samuel ben Lent, Rabbi of Busk. Where I come from My youth Of the caravan, and how I met Reb Mordke My return to Podolia〉and a strange utsion On an expedition with Mordechai to Smyrna, due to a dream of goat droppings . 6.Of a strange wedding guest in white stockings and sandals Nahman's Tale: Jacob's first mention Isohar's ScRool, and who God really is: The next installment in thestory of Nahman ben Levi of Busk Ofjacob the simpleton and taxes Of Nahman's appearance toNahman, or: The pit of darknessand the seed of light Of stones and the runaway with the horrible face Of how Nahman winds up with Yente and falls asleep on the floorby her bed Of Yente's onward wanderings through timeOf the temible consequences of the amulet’s disappearanceWhat, the Zohar says Pesefs tale of the Podhajce goat and the strange grassFather Chmielowski writes a letter to Mrs. Di'uzbacka, whom he holds in such high esteem, in January 1753, from Firlejow7.Yente's story 8.Honey, and not eating too much of it, or: Isohar's school in Smyrna, in the Turkish landScraps: What we were doing in Smyrna in the Jewish year 5511 and how we metMoliwda, and also, how the spirit IS like a needle that pokes a hole in tbe world.. 9.Of【he wedding in Nikopol, the mystery under the huppah, and the advantages of being foreign In Craiova: Of trade on holy days and of Hershel, faced with【he dilemma of the chenues Of a pear] and Hana, 10.Who the person is who gathers herbs on Mount Alhos11.How in the town of Craiova Moliwda-Kossakowski runs into Jacob The story of His Lordship Moliwda, or Antoni Kossakowski, or the Slepowrpn coat of arms, which is also known as KorwinOf what draws persons together, and certain clarificalions regarding the transmigration of souls Jasb's story about the ring Scraps: What we saw among Moliwda)s Bogomils Of Jacob's expedition to the grave of Nathan of Gaza Of how Nahman follows in Jacob's footsteps Of ho٦v Jacob faces off with the Antichrist The appearance of ruah haKodesh, when the spirit descends into man Of why Sabnika does not care for Jacob Scraps: Of the curse of Salonika and Jacob's molting Scraps: Oftriangles and crosses Scraps: Of meeting Jacob« father in Roman, and also of the Starosta and the thiefOf Jacob's dance III. THE BOOK OF THE ROAD13.Of the warm December of 1755, otherwise known as the month ofTevet 5516, of the country of Polin, and pestilence in MielnicaWhat is gleaned by the sharp gaze of every variety of spy“Three things are too wondrous for me; the fouilh I can't understand."—Book of Proverbs 30:18The Lord's female guardians Scraps by Nahman of Bush kept secret from Jacob Of secret acts in Lanckorod and an unfavorable eye How Gerson caught the heretics Of the Polish princess Gitla Pinkasowna OfPinkas and his shameful despair 14.Of the Bishop of Kamieniec Mikotqj Dembowski, who doesn't realize he is merely passing through this whole afiair Of Father Chmielowski's defense of his good name before the bishop What Elzbieta Druzbacka writes to Father Chmielowski in February of 1756 from Rzemieh on the Wisbka Father Chmielowski to Elzbieta Druzbacka What Pinkas records, and what goes unrecordedOf the Seder HaHerem, or the order of the curseOf Yente, who is always present and sees all The Bishop。f Kamieniec Mikot^ Dembowski writes a letter to the papal nuncio Serra, while his secretary adds a little something from himself Bishop Dembowski writes to Bishop Sohyk Meanwhile How Gitla's stepmother's pessimistic predictions come true15. How the old minaret in Kamieniec turns into a columnwith the Holy Mother on top What Bishop Dembowski ponders as his face is being shaved Of Hayah's two natures The shapes of the new lettersOf Krysa and his plans for the future16. Of the year 1757 and of the establishment of certain age-Old truths over the summer at the Kamieniec Podolski disputationOf burning booksOf Father Pikulski's explanation to the nobles of the Elles of gematriaOf newly appointed Archbishop Dembowski, who is preparing for a journey Of the life of dead Yente in the winter of 1757, also known as the year the Talmud was burned, followed by the books of those who burned the Talmud Of Asher Rubin's adventures with liffht, and his grandfather's with awolf Of the Polish princess in Asher RuDin's house Of the reversal of circumstances: Katarzyna Kossakowska writes toBishop K^etan Sottyk Pompa funebris: JanuaryOf spilled blood and hungry leeches, Mrs. Elzbieta Druzbacka to Father Chmielowski, or: Of the perfection of imprecise forms The Vicar Forane Benedykt Chmielowski writes to Elzbieta Druzbacka Of the unexpected guest who comes in the night to Father Chmielowski Of the cave in the shape of the alef17·Scraps: My heart's quandary How tn GtvYgtx we miked Jacob into returning to Poland Father Benedykt weeds the oregano The runaway The runaway's tale: Jewish purgatory. Cousins putting up a unified front and launching their campaign Moliwda sets out and beholds the kingdom of【he vagabonds How Moliwda is made messenger in the service of a difficult cause Of useful truths and useless truths, and the mortar post as a means of communication Mrs. Kossakowska, wife of the castellan of Kamieniuc, writes to Senator EubieAski, Bishop of L١vów Father Pikulski writes to Senator Eubiehski, Bishop of Lwow From Antoni Moliwda-Kossakowski to His Excellency Bishop Eubiehski . 538 Knives and forks 18. Of how Ivanie, a little village on the Dniester, becomes a republic Of the sleeves of Sabbatai Tzvi's holy shirt Of the working of Jacob's touch Of the women's talk while plucking chickens Of which of the women will be chosen Hana's gjoomy gaze notes these details of Ivanie Of Moliwda's visit to Ivanie Divine grace, which calls out from the darkness into the light The supplication to Archbishop LubieKski Of the everlasting interconnectedness between divinily and sinfulness Of God “The miller grinds the flower"IV. THE BOOK OF THE COMET19. Of the comet that augurs the end of the world and brings about the ShekhinahOfYankiel of Glinno and the terrible smell of silt Of Strange Deeds, holy silence, and other Ivanie diversionsA tale of two tabkts Scraps, Or: Eight months in the Lord's communit) of Hanie Ofdoubles, trinities, andfoursomes Of candles put out. A man who does not have a piece of land is not a man Of stablehands and the study of the Polish language Of new names Of Pinkas, who descends into hell in search of his daughterAntoni Moliwda-Kossakowski writes to Katarzyna Kossakowska Katarzyna Kossakowska to Antoni Moliwda-Kossakowski Of the cross and dancing in the abyss. 20. What Yente sees from the vault of Lw6w cathedral on July 17, 1759 Of Asher٠s familial bliss The seventh point of the disputation Of secret hand and eye signals and hints Katarzyna Kosyakowska writes to Bishop Kajetan Sottyk Of the troubles of Father Chmielowski Of Pinkas, who cannot understand what sin he has committed Of the human deluge that overwhelms the streets of Lwow The Mayorkowiczes Nahman and his raiment of good deeds Father Mikulski's bills and the market of Christian names Of what happens to Father Chmielowski in LwowAt the printing press of Pawel Jozef Golczewski,His Majesty the King's preferred typographer Of proper proportions The baptism Of Jacob Frank's shaved beard, and the new face that emerges froiil underneath it , 21. Of the plague that descends upon Lwow in the autumn of 1759 What Moliwda writes to his cousin Katarzyna Kossakowska In which Katarzyna Kossakowska dares to disturb the powerful of this world Of the trampling of sins and using a knife to make aV formation of cranes make a U-turn Scraps: At Radziwill} Ofsad turns in Lublin 22. The inn on the right bank of the Vistula Of events in Warsaw and the papal nuncio Of Katarzyna and her dominion over Warsaw Katarzyna Kossakowska writes to her co니sin What is served for Christmas Eve dinner at Ml'S. Kossakowska、Avacha and her two dolls A doll for Salusia Lab؟cka)and Father Chmielowski's tales of a libmy and a ceremonious baptism Father G」udenty Pikulski, a Bernardine, interrogates the naive Father Gaudenty Pikulski writes to Primate Eubiedski The srnflower-blue 2upan and the red kontusz What was going on in Warsaw when Jasb disappeared spit on this fire An ocean of questions that will sink even the strongest battleship 23·What hunting is like at Hieronim Florian Radziwill'sScraps: Of the three paths of the story and how telling a tale can be its own deed Hana, consider in your heartV. THE BOOK OF METAL AND SULFUR24.The messianic machine, how it works Of Jacob's arrival, on a February night in 1760,in Czçstochowa Whatjacob's prison is like The flagellants The holy picture that conceals without revealing A letter in Polish A visit to the monastery Upupa dicitOfjacob's learning to read and where the Poles come fromOf Jan Wolo١vski and Mateusz Matuszewski, who are the next to come to Czestochowa, in November of 1760 299Elzbieta DruZbacka to Fathei Benedykt Chmielowski,Vicar Forane ofRohatyn, Tarn6w, Christmas, 1760Elzbieta Dru^backa's heavy golden heart offered to the Black Madonna25.Yente sleeping under stork wings OfYente's measurement of gmes A letter from Nahman Jakubowski to the Lord in CzgstochowaGifts from the BeshtThe larch manor in WojsJa١vice and Zwierzchowski's teeth Of torture and curses How Hayah prophesies. Edom is shaken to its foundationsOf how the interregnum translates into the traffic patternsof the carrEges on Krakowskie Przedmiescie Pinkas edits the Docnwntajudaeos Who Pinkas runs into at the market in Lwow A mirror and ordinary glass Daily life in prison and of keeping children in a box The hole that kads to the abyss, or a visit from Tovah and hisson Hayim Turk in 1765 Elzbieta DruZbacka writes from the Bernardine monastery in Tarn6wa last letter to the canon Benedykt Chmielowski in FirlgjowOf bringing Moliwda back to life Of wandering caves Of failed legations and hi^ory laying siege to the monastery wallsOf the passing of Lady Hana in February of 1770 and of herfina] resting place 235Scraps: Being under siege VI. THE BOOK OF THE DISTANT COUNTRY26Yente reads passports OftheDebrushkafamilyinProssnitzOf new life in Brunn and the ticking of clocks Of Moshe Dobrushka and the feast of the LevEthanOf the house by the cathedral and the delivery of maidensScraps: How to catch afish in mttddied waters The Lord)s wordsThe bird that hops out of a snuffboxA thousand compliments, or: Of the wedding of Moshe Dobrushka,or Thomas yon Schönfeld Of the emperor and people from everywhere and nowhere Of the bear from Avacha Frank's dream Of the high life A machine that plays chess 27. How Nahman Piotr Jakubowski is appointed an ambassador The return of Bishop Soltyk ١Mhat's happening among the Lord's Warsaw machna Eine Anzeige, or: A denunciation Coffee with milk: The effects of consumpHon A hernE, and the Lord's words Of a proclivity for secret experiments on substances Every variety of ash, or: Recipes for homemade gold How the Lord's dreams see the world Of the lovemaking of Franciszek Wolowski Of Samuel Ascherbach, son of Gitla and Asher 28. Asher in a Viennese café, or: Was ist Aufklärung? 1784 Of Lhe healthful aspects of prophesying Of figurines made out of bread The rejected proposal of Franciszek Wobwski the younger A final audience with the emperor Thomas von SchGnfeld and his games Scraps: Jacob Franks sons, andMoliwda Last days in BriinnMoliwda in search of his life's center 107The next chapter in the history of His Lordship Antoni Kossakowski, also known as Moliwda29. Of the little insect-like people who inhabit Offenbach am MainOf Isenburger Schloss and its freezing【esidenisOf boiled eggs and Prince Lubomirski How Zwierzchowska the She-Wolf maintins order in the castleThe knife set with turquoise Of the dollhouse The dangerous smell of the raspberry bush and muscatelOf Thomas von Schdnfeld's biff plansWho the Lord is when he is no lonffer who he isOf Roch Frank's sins Of neshika, God's kissGossip, letters, denunciations, decrees, and reports30·The death of a Polish princess, step by stepA Warsaw table for thirty peopleOf ordinary lifeHeiliger Weg nach OffenbachOf women soaking their legsScraps: Of the lightVII. THE BOOK OF NAMES31.Jakubowski and the books of death Eva Frank saves Offenbach from Napoleonic lootingThe skull Of a meeting in Vienna Samuel Ascherbach and his sisters The Zaluski Brothers' Library and Canon Benedykt ChmielowskiThe martyrdom of Junius Frey The childrenA lovely little ziri plays the spinet Of a ceriain manuscript The travels of New Athens YenteA Note on SourcesAuthor's AcknowledgmentsTranslator's Acknowledgments