Proshloe i nastoyashchee. Pervoe vsegda yavlyaetsya kornyami dlya vtorogo i gde, kak ne v nyem, iskat' istoki vsego proiskhodyashchego nyne. V soprikosnovenie s naslediem berushchikh svoe nachalo v glubokom proshlom predstavleniy o tom, kak ustroeno mirozdanie, kak raz i okazyvayutsya vovlecheny glavnye geroi knigi. Podobnoe obstoyatel'stvo priotkryvaet dlya nikh ochen' strannye aspekty yavleniy, proiskhodyashchikh v ikh mire, i v itoge privodit k sovershenno neozhidannym, i dazhe trevozhnym, zaklyucheniyam.