For the planned suicide, the outsider narrator from "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" lacked the strength. Instead, he falls asleep in an armchair and dreams of flying to a distant planet, which turns out to be a kind of earthly paradise. However, the arrival of the Earth dweller changes everything, as he immediately infects the innocent inhabitants with all the evils of 19th-century Russia, such as brutality, corruption, and serfdom. In addition to this famous satirical novella, the volume also includes the stories "A Stupid Story," "Bobok," "The Crocodile," and "The Boy with Mr. Jesus at Christmas.".