Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz, a forty‑year‑old editor of a prominent Moscow literary journal, and his young poet companion Ivan Nikolaevich Ponyrev (who writes under the name Homeless) arrive at Patriarch’s Ponds at sunset. The walk is eerily empty. They buy warm apricot soda from a lone vendor, who mentions that beer will be delivered later. After drinking, Berlioz experiences a sudden, inexplicable panic; a translucent, seven‑foot‑tall phantom in a checkered jacket appears, hovers, and then vanishes, leaving Berlioz shaken.

The two sit on a bench and resume a heated discussion about a poem Berlioz had commissioned from Homeless that portrayed Jesus in a negative light. Dissatisfied, Berlioz lectures the poet, citing ancient sources (Philo, Josephus, Tacitus) to argue that Jesus never existed and that all religious stories are myth. He further enumerates other deities (Osiris, Tammuz, Marduk, Vitzliputzli) to underline his point.

While they converse, a mysterious tall man in a grey suit, with mismatched eye colors, gold and platinum crowns on his teeth, and a black‑knob stick, appears. Both writers speculate about his nationality. He politely asks to sit, joins the debate, and declares himself an atheist like them. He then probes their belief, asks about the five traditional proofs of God’s existence, dismisses them, and boasts of having devised a sixth “Kant’s proof.” He proceeds to mock philosophical arguments, suggests sending Kant to Solovki, and tells a grim, absurd story about fate and mortality.

The stranger offers Homeless a cigarette case of gold containing a diamond‑encrusted triangle, then predicts that Berlioz will die beheaded by a Komsomol girl, a prophecy he delivers with eerie certainty. He questions Berlioz’s evening plans, claiming a trivial incident (sunflower oil bought by “Annushka”) will cancel his scheduled Massolit meeting. The dialogue grows tense; Homeless accuses the man of being a spy and urges Berlioz to demand his papers.

The stranger produces a business card, passport, and invitation, identifying himself as a professor, a specialist in black magic, and a historian tasked with cataloguing newly discovered necromantic manuscripts of Gerbert of Aurillac. He confirms he speaks fluent Russian and promises to share “important information.” He concludes with a cryptic claim that Jesus did exist, contradicting the editors’ atheistic stance, and hints at an upcoming “interesting story” at the Ponds that evening.