Summary

The young man the narrator sees entering the room is his mirror-image, although his counterpart does not seem even surprised at the resemblance between them. “The resemblance between myself and the man who entered the room was incredible! It was me there . . . for that first instant this was what I thought” (22). The pasha wants the Italian to assist his Turkish look-alike, whom he calls “'Hoja', meaning 'master'” (23), in the creation of a fireworks display that will surpass all previous fireworks for the upcoming wedding festivities. While the two men set to work testing rockets, the Italian notices his Turkish mirror-image constantly scrutinizes him, even though he says nothing about their resemblance to each other.

The fireworks for the wedding festivities for the wedding of pasha son to the grand vizier's daughter prove to be magnificent, entertaining the wedding guests with a bright red whirling...