Chapter One Summary

As the novel begins, Cincinnatus is sentenced to death for an unknown crime. The judge whispers the sentence in his ear, and then Cincinnatus is hauled away to a towering prison atop a mountain where he is incarcerated by the jailer, Rodion. His lawyer is waiting in the prison cell, but Cincinnatus asks him to leave. The prisoner begins writing down his thoughts, disjointedly. A spider hangs from the ceiling, but Cincinnatus is the only prisoner.

Rodion comes in the cell and dances with the prisoner. They glide out into the corridor and then back into the cell, a room with one window containing a cot, a table, and a chair. Cincinnatus's dinner is getting cold; he's allowed the same food as the wardens. The prison director comes in dressed in a formal frock coat, walks ceremoniously to the cot, and...