Chapter 1 Summary

It is a hot, autumn evening in Palestine. Elisha is standing near the window looking out at the transparent twilight. A cry of a child is heard. The city seems silent, motionless, unreal, and very far away. Tomorrow, he has to kill a man. Elisha doesn't know anything about him except that he is an Englishman, which makes him Elisha's enemy.

Night brings out a special memory for Elisha, who learned a lesson from an old beggar when Elisha was twelve years old. It was at the beginning of the war, and Elisha's parents were still alive. In an overheated synagogue in his hometown, he meets up a gaunt, shadowy man, who may not be a beggar. Usually uneasy around beggars, who inspire in him mingled feelings of love and fear, Elisha finds this man more unsettling than usual and feels anxious, especially...