The Manuscript Found in Saragossa

"The Manuscript Found in Saragossa" is the most significant work of the remarkable Polish scholar, diplomat, traveler, and writer Jan Potocki (1761-1815). A young officer is eager to return to his unit, but, unable to break the enchanted circle, he invariably finds himself near a lost inn in the Sierra Morena mountains, beside which hang the bodies of two bandits. The intricate plot is replete with geographical leaps and temporal shifts (from Spain we travel to the banks of the Nile, to ancient knightly castles, to Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Tunisia, Morocco, Ancient Greece, and Judea). At times, the reader feels as if they have entered the labyrinth of the tales of "One Thousand and One Nights".