When the procession is thirty feet past you, an odd thing happens. The coffin opens and a man jumps out. He's n***d, p***s dangling like a shriveled pendulum, face painted white. He has a gray beard and wrinkled skin. He shouts once, then runs down the street, soon out of sight.
As he does so, the passersby stop and clap. Then they continue walking. The members of the procession recede into the side alleys. The empty coffin remains in the middle of the street.
What does it mean? Is it something you need to write down in your book? You ponder that for a moment, but then decide this is not about the City. There is nothing about what you saw that involves the City.
Then dogs begin to gather at the coffin. This startles you. When they bark, you are alarmed. In The Book of the City it is wri
