If on a Winter's Night a Traveler

The Reader doesn’t finish On the carpet of leaves illuminated by the moon before his plane lands. When he passes through airport security in Ataguitania, the book is confiscated because it’s banned. In the airport, the Reader meets Corinna. She closely “resembles Lotaria” and has a copy of the banned book that she’s willing to lend to the Reader. The Reader examines the book, but its title is Around an empty grave, and the author is Calixto Bandera. Corinna says it has a fake dust jacket to evade confiscation. The Reader thinks about the “fake dust jacket,” wondering whether all novels are fake. Corinna admits that false novels are common. Many things are fake in Ataguitania, she says. As the Reader and Corinna wait for a cab, the police arrest them. Corinna remains calm. She says that her real name is Gertrude and asks the police to take her in to headquarters. The Reader is astonished when she says that the police officers are also fake.

The Reader and Corinna are taken to a police station. There, Corinna says her name is Ingrid. The pair is separated and, when the Reader sees Corinna again, she’s wearing a police uniform.