Short Fiction · Chapter
Endnotes explained
This chapter consists entirely of endnotes providing definitions, explanations, and cultural context for terms and references used throughout the book.
What happens
This chapter consists entirely of endnotes providing definitions, explanations, and cultural context for terms and references used throughout the book. Topics include Russian and Siberian geography, local customs, religious practices, convict life, and linguistic clarifications.
Key passages
“Blind people seldom have blind children.”
Blindness is rarely inherited.
A note by A. D. clarifying a common misconception.
“A meditation in the form of a song.”
A song that is a form of meditation.
Definition of a musical term by A. D.
“To 'make a cover' means, in the convict dialect, to kill a man inside the prison-walls. A long, loose coat worn by the convicts is generally thrown over the head of the victim, in order to deaden his cries. This is called 'making a cover.'”
In convict slang, 'making a cover' refers to murdering someone inside prison by throwing a coat over their head to muffle screams.
Explanation of convict jargon by V. K.
“A superstition exists among them that on this day the Jewish Devil Khapun (the Snatcher) carries off one Jew each year out of the Synagogue.”
Little Russian peasants believe that on Yom Kippur, the Jewish demon Khapun takes one Jew from the synagogue.
Cultural superstition explained by M. F.