Book the Second: Chapters 16-23 Summary

Chapter 16. Chiaroscuro is a word that means the arrangement of light and dark. It is ironic for a rat to have this name. This rat, called Roscuro for short, one day decides to chew on Gregory's rope. When Gregory discovers him, he uses a match to burn off half his whiskers as punishment. Instead of punishment, however, it introduces Roscuro to light, something that will come to fascinate him, despite the fact rats do not like light. Roscuro is told by another rat, Botticelli, that he should not admire the light and should instead focus on torturing prisoners as all rats do.

Chapter 17. A new prisoner comes into the dungeon and Roscuro is fascinated with a red cloth he saw thrown at the prisoner, the way the light shined through it. Botticelli tells him there...