Summary

This titular story in the collection is told from the first person perspective of a purple swamp hen who describes his dissatisfaction in living in Quintus Pompeius’ Roman gardens in the city of Pompeii just days before the eruption that will kill everyone. The bird is direct, with a limited understanding of the human race, but he has many negative opinions about human beings. The purple swamp hen is alive now but is reflecting on the past time when birds of his kind were common in wealthy landowners’ gardens.

The purple swamp hen lived in the home of Quintus Pompeius and his extremely wealthy family that grew grapes and made wine for everyone in the region. He saw many things in the garden of the home, including Quintus’ wife cheating on him with another man. This was not much different from...