The general excitement mounted, and no one knows what it would have led to if Fagot had not stopped the rain of money with a quick puff into the air.
“And now, citizens,” he announced, “an even more incredible display! Ein, zwei, drei!”
At his words, appeared, out of nowhere, a man with a pince-nez askew on his face and a briefcase clutched in his shaking hands appeared, trembling.
“Citizen,” Fagot addressed him, “tell the audience your name”.
The mysterious newcomer remained unresponsive.
“Citizen,” Fagot repeated forcefully, “what is your name?”
As if the words were coming from elsewhere, the newcomer answered: “Nikolay Ivanovich.”
Tell us, citizen, have you any idea why you are here and what is about to happen?”
Again silent, Nikolay Ivanovich, shook his head in frightened anticipation.
“There you have it citizens,” Fagot orated, “now you can be confident of the legitimacy of what you are about to witness with your own eyes. Watch carefully, the devil is in the details”.
Then, as easily as Nikolay Ivanovich had appeared, he disappeared. Nobody knows the location to which he disappeared, but the audience did not dwell on this detail for long, for, soon after, Nikolay Ivanovich appeared in the rafters.
Cries were made in disbelief: “It’s a double! The real Nikolay Ivanovich is hidden backstage!” As if in response, there was an almost indetectable noise, as if a breeze were rushing through the rafters, and Nikolay Ivanovich appeared back on the stage.
Soon after, and just as noiselessly, a woman with yellow hair, still naked and dripping from a shower, appeared on-stage. Shocked, she managed to run out of the theater soon after, but her appearance had already been noted with interest.
The audience was incredulous. Who were these people and where were they coming from? It is fairly safe to say that nobody except Woland and his cohorts knew.
The audience sat silent in their confusion. As the silence pervaded the room, Woland became more ominous, sitting solitary in his chair, gazing at the audience unwaveringly. Moonlight stared in from the doorway as if it, too, were part of the audience.
Again, an infinitesimal breeze swept almost undetectably through the theatre once more and another man appeared. The breeze developed slowly to a wind, and eventually to a gust. A sparrow was blown in through the window and got lost in the tumultuous vortex. People were appearing at on-stage at an alarmingly increasing rate. One woman in particular caught the audience’s attention. She had what appeared to be a man’s mouth – it was very wide – and had a solitary fang protruding down from it. The woman’s appearance, with her deathly eyes, appalled the spectators, but thankfully she was soon drowned in the flood of appearing people. A headless body also appeared in the middle of the appearing crowd but few people, if any noticed it. Next to appear was the ghostly figure of the theatre manager, still disheveled and unshaven. Also among the rapidly growing throng was a man aged in his late 30s, dressed in what appeared to be hospital clothes. The man had black hair, nervous eyes, and a particularly pointed noise. His eyes were cloudy with a golden shine, a testament to his wavering sanity. Some could have sworn they also saw, very briefly, 3 men being crucified in the back of the crowd by a large man with a disfigured face.
Incredulity evolved into unfettered amazement as the shock died down. A few screamed with confusion, but most were on the edges of their seats, hollering with excitement, wanting more. Fagot delivered. Soon, not only people were appearing; various objects began to appear among the crowd. Such objects appeared as a primus stove, a small gold horseshoe covered with diamonds, and a pile of what appeared to be transcripts, files, and forms.
The excitement became so intense that the theatre descended into chaos. People were up on their seats, pulling their hair out, and turning to each other bewilderment.
And then, almost as quickly as it had begun, it ended; everybody who had so rapidly rushed into existence on the stage vanished immediately and at once. Expectedly, this caused some of the excitement to dissipate, but a great deal remained. The theater buzzed as the audience members chattered nervously with one another.
Two young men, exchanging a meaningful and merry glance, took off from their seats and went directly to the buffet. The theater hummed, everybody’s eyes glittered with excitement. Oh, yes, no one could tell what it all would have led to had Bengalsky not found within himself the strength to act, (Bulgakov, 139).
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