Summary

Chapter 1 begins the novel from the first person point of view of a man named Iskander the Potter. He speaks of a man named Ibrahim, and claims to be the only one who knows why Ibrahim has gone mad. Iskander explains that Christians once lived in his town of Eskibahçe. Though he himself is a Muslim, he misses the Christians. He speaks of a war with Christian Greeks, explaining that he himself is a Turk. He also mentions a Christian girl named Philothei, who is now dead, as he leads into his story of how Ibrahim went mad.

In Chapter 2, Iskander recalls the birth of Philothei back in 1900. Iskander walks in on the birth, as he is friends with Charitos, her father, and Polyxeni, her mother. When Iskander comments on Philothei’s beauty, Charitos asks him to tie a rag to...