Summary

Chapter 11 begins a third person narration about Ibrahim, as he happens upon a dead goldfinch. Philothei tells him she thinks it is pretty, so he gifts it to her. When the bird begins to decay and smell, he cuts off and gives her the wings. From that moment, Ibrahim begins thinking of Philothei as a “little bird” (47).

Chapter 12 is a third person narration that follows Polyxeni, Philothei’s mother. She has a dream that her dead mother asks her to prove her innocence, as she was accused of poisoning and killing the family of a man named Rustem Bey.

First, Polyxeni visits a bird seller. When she finds out his birds cannot fly, she looks for Mehmetçik, Karatavuk, Ibrahim, Philothei, Drosoula, and a boy named Gerasimos. She finds them and sees Karatavuk trying to jump off of a tomb to prove he...