An unnamed narrator is visited by a tall
Scots Bible-seller, who presents him with a very old cloth-bound book that he bought in
India from an
Untouchable. The book is emblazoned with the title "Holy Writ," below which title is emblazoned "Bombay," for the book and hides it on a bookshelf behind his copy of
One Thousand and One Nights. Over the summer, the narrator obsesses over the book, poring over it, cataloging its illustrations and refusing to go outside for fear of its theft. In the end, realizing that the book is monstrous, he briefly considers burning it before fearing the possibility of the endless supply of smoke suffocating the world. Instead, he goes to the
National Library where he once worked (like Borges) to leave the book among the basement bookshelves, reasoning that "the best place to hide a leaf is in a forest." ==Adaptations==