Chapter 15
- Please keep these annotations SPOILER-FREE by not revealing information from later pages in the novel.
415 Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin
Stencil is quoting the original "writing on the wall." In the book of Daniel, a mysterious, disembodied hand appears in the royal palace of King Belshazzar of Babylon, and writes the words "Mene mene tekel parsin (or upharsin, in another version) on the palace walls. The court was unable to decipher the meaning of the crypic phrase, although mene, tekel and parsin were all aramaic terms for currency. Daniel intepreted the phrase to mean that (mene) Babylon had been measured & found wanting, (tekel) a price would be paid and (parsin) Babylon apportioned by its neighbors. The historical record documents the conquest of the Bablyonian empire by the Persians; the Book of Daniel has King Belshazzar slain that night.
423 Sahha
Maltese: bye.
| Chapter 1 In which Benny Profane, a schlemihl and human yo-yo, gets to an apocheir 9/1 |
Chapter 2 The Whole Sick Crew 44/39 |
Chapter 3 In which Stencil, a quick-change artist, does eight impersonations 61/59 |
Chapter 4 In which Esther gets a nose job 95/97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter 5 In which Stencil nearly goes West with an alligator 111/115 |
Chapter 6 In which Profane returns to street level 134/141 |
Chapter 7 She hangs on the western wall 152/161 |
Chapter 8 In which Rachel gets her yo-yo back, Roony sings a song, and Stencil calls on Bloody Chiclitz 213/229 |
| Chapter 9 Mondaugen's story 229/247 |
Chapter 10 In which various sets of young people get together 280/305 |
Chapter 11 Confessions of Fausto Maijstral 304/333 |
Chapter 12 In which things are not so amusing 347/385 |
| Chapter 13 In which the yo-yo string is revealed as a state of mind 367/407 |
Chapter 14 V. in love 393/437 |
Chapter 15 Sahha 415/461 |
Chapter 16 Valletta 424/471 |
| Epilogue, 1919 456/507 |
