Summary

Section two opens in St. Petersburg, where a grandmother is distractedly telling a story to her grandson. She’s busy, however, and hurries the boy off to play. Walser is typing, describing his first impressions of the city’s majestic splendor. The baboushka is tired, too tired to pray for her daughter, who we discover, is a murderess. The child, ordered by his grandmother to take Walser his tea, hesitates, afraid, for Walser is dressed as a clown. Little Ivan is both afraid of and fascinated by clowns.

As a clown, Walser is housed in the poorest accommodations. He is chilly, and there are no lemons for his tea.

In contrast, the circus’ pig, which belongs personally to the ringmaster, Colonel Kearney, sleeps between silk sheets in first class accommodations. She is a prophetess, and tells fortunes with the aid of cards bearing the letters...