Chapter 1, Don Giovanni, Section 1 Summary

A poem, addressing a "you" named Professor, begins with a brief description of a dream where the dreamer is trying to escape something through a trap door but cannot open it. This brief scene segues into the story of a woman, the poet, who meets a man, the Professor's son, on a train. The man initiates sexual contact then takes the woman to a white hotel by an emerald lake, where the two spend the day having sex. The next day there is a storm and several hotel guests drown in the lake, but the young couple continues to obsess over each other even when the victims are buried. The woman describes various sexual acts between two, focusing on nipples and fingers. Intense images of fallings stars and lightning accompany the woman's descriptions.

The story skips ahead...