New Characters
Georges Bengalsky: The master of ceremonies at the Variety.

Sempleyarov: Chairman of the Moscow theatres’ Acoustics Commission. Praskovya Fyodorovna: A nurse.

Summary
Ivan, who is still in his room at the clinic, has failed in his attempt to write a statement about the professor. Nurse Praskovya Fyodorovna sees him crying and goes to the doctor, who gives him an injection while assuring Ivan he will cry no more. Ivan quickly begins to feel better, and the moon starts to rise as evening settles on Moscow. Ivan, thinking to himself, at first dismisses the death of Berlioz as absurd, but then “the former Ivan” points out to “the new Ivan” that the professor predicted Berlioz’s demise. The new Ivan ponders the strange professor and wonders who will replace Berlioz as editor of the journal. A voice that resembles the consultant’s calls Ivan a fool, which makes Ivan happy, and he sees a man on the balcony, who tells him to keep quiet.

The scene shifts to the Variety’s stage for Chapter 12, as the Guilli family’s cycling acrobatics form the opening act of Woland’s magic show. Meanwhile, Rimsky tries to call Varenukha at 10 P.M., only to learn that all the building’s phones are out of order. He goes down to the theatre’s dressing room to meet Woland and is surprised to see Koroviev, along with the black cat, accompanying Woland. The cat’s trick of drinking water from a glass astounds everyone in the dressing room. On stage, Georges Bengalsky, the master of ceremonies, starts to introduce Woland, but the introduction falls flat, and Woland, Koroviev, and the cat take the stage. Woland begins by calling Koroviev “Fagott,” the name Koroviev will be known by throughout the magic show. He chats with Koroviev about Moscow. After an interruption from Bengalsky, the show begins with Koroviev and the cat flipping a deck of cards back and forth, and Koroviev swallowing the cards as they are returned to him by the cat. The deck is then found on a citizen named Parchevsky, after which a heckler claims the deck was planted on Parchevsky. Koroviev tells the heckler he now has the deck. This heckler finds ten-ruble bills in his pocket instead of the deck, and when a fat man in the stalls asks “to play with the same kind of deck,” Koroviev shoots his pistol up at the ceiling, and money begins raining down.

The audience starts grabbing the bills, but Koroviev stops the rain of money by blowing into the air. Bengalsky steps in to declare that the rain of cash was merely a trick of mass hypnosis and asks Woland to make the notes disappear, but Koroviev and the audience do not like this idea. Someone in the gallery calls for tearing Bengalsky’s head off. Koroviev says he likes this idea, and the cat jumps upon Bengalsky and tears his head off with two twists of his paws. An outraged audience asks for the head to be put back on Bengalsky, and the cat puts it back. A crowd rushes to help Bengalsky after he starts moaning, and he is taken away by ambulance. Meanwhile, Woland disappears, and as he does, Koroviev displays ladies’ dresses, hats, shoes, and accessories from Paris. After he offers the women in the audience the chance to exchange their dresses and shoes for the Parisian dresses and shoes, one brunette takes up the offer. After she receives a pair of shoes and a dress, women rush the stage to get their new dresses and shoes. When Sempleyarov, the chairman of the Acoustics Commission of...