The Knife Thrower: A knife thrower named Hensch comes to a small town to perform his act. At first, he completes the usual program, such as throwing knives at his assistant, barely missing her. Then, however, the intensity increases as he deliberately injures his assistant, leaving a mark on her skin. When the assistant asks for a volunteer to receive a mark as well, many people in the audience raise their hands, and one of them is cut on the forearm. A second volunteer gets a knife thrown in his hand, and when the assistant eventually asks for a volunteer for the ultimate sacrifice, there is only one girl who is willing to participate. It appears as if the knife has killed her, but the audience never finds out if this last part was real or not.
The Visit: The narrator visits an old friend who has married a frog. The three have dinner together and walk around in the garden, and after one night, the narrator leaves again.
The Sisterhood of Night: In a small town, teenage girls are leaving their homes at night to engage in secret meetings where they worship silence. However, the parents and other inhabitants do not believe them because they suspect that the girls do detestable things, even after one of their harmless gatherings has been witnessed. The lack of evidence against the sisterhood makes the villagers even more fanatic and restless.
The Way out: A man named Harter is caught having an affair with a married woman. Shortly after, he is visited by two mysterious men, who make an appointment to pick him up the next day so he can meet the husband of the woman he slept with. On the way to the husband, Harter feels regret, but it is too late for him--he refuses to participate in the duel that was set up and is shot by the husband.
Flying Carpets: A young boy tells his story of playing with a flying carpet during his summer break. At first, he flies around his yard, but soon he becomes too daring and ventures to fly above the clouds. However, as soon as school starts again, he loses his interest in the carpet.
The New Automaton Theater: Heinrich Graum emerges as a new prodigy among automaton builders, being able to construct sophisticated and lifelike machines at a very young age. After running his automaton theater for many years, he suddenly disappears and not even his apprentices know what he is doing. Ten years later, he opens his new automaton theater, which is nothing like the old one because the machines are rather clumsy.
Clair de Lune: The 15-year-old narrator reveals that he has not been able to sleep since his last birthday. One sleepless night, he gets up and walks to the house of one of his friends, who is playing baseball with three other girls from his class. He remarks that they dress and play like boys, and he wonders if them playing in the middle of the night is a regular occurrence. After playing a few innings with them, they all have some coke and then leave again.
The Dream of the Consortium: An old department store is renovated and expanded by a consortium so it is now the biggest and most decadent mall in town. The narrator is amazed by the sheer size of the place and the long list of things on sale, including artificial caves and ancient monuments.
Balloon Flight, 1870: A man is on a mission to fly in a hot air balloon from Paris over the Prussian lines to an unoccupied party of France so he can build up a resistance. When he and his pilot are under attack from Prussian riflemen, they ascend to 10,000 feet, which causes the narrator to reflect on the war and the purpose of life. After flying through thick clouds, they lose all sense of direction and land in an unknown place.
Paradise Park: Sarabee, the owner and manager of a large amusement park, attracts crowds with unusual designs such as multi-level plazas. When a technician discovers a fissure under one of the rides, Sarabee starts with the construction of a massive underground park, which even includes an artificial beach. Two years later, another underground level of even greater scale is opened, with unbelievable rides and advanced machines. While the classic park overground is slowly decaying, Sarabee is opening another level which features fantastic and at times unsettling sceneries and creatures instead of the rides and replicas he is known for. This park turns out to be a failure, so the next park is an area that breaks the conventions of regular parks. Visitors wear masks and costumes, and are invited to explore the darkness. When Sarabee is about to open his most anticipated park, it burns down just before the gates are supposed to open.
Kaspar Hauser Speaks: In this monologue, Kaspar Hauser recounts his growing up in the darkness of a dungeon and a tower. His only goal now in freedom is to become an ordinary citizen.
Beneath the Cellars of our Town: In this last chapter, the narrator describes the vast network of passageways below his town. The townspeople cherish their underground world so much that it has become part of their identity.
