Epigraphs

The Russian original featured epigraphs to more of the chapters in Books 2 and 3; the agents failed to secure the rights to them by the time of the worldwide English publication, so all those that are not original (like entries from Blume or the Rain Song) or from The Hunting of the Snark (in public domain; here note also that the Tabaqui's eight chapters of Book 2 correspond to the quotes from all eight "fits" of the poem) have been removed.

The epigraphs importantly established a tighter relationship of the text with the character of Tarantula (by borrowing from the stream-of-consciousness book of the same name by Bob Dylan) and provided an origin for the name of Book 3 (Boedromion by Austrian poet Alfred Gong - note also the "gloved hand"). In addition, the allusion to H. C. Andersen's The Little Mermaid is made explicit (note also Tabaqui's "and it is very stupid of you" directed at Noble at the beginning of the scene with the Master of Time, where he later compares Noble to Little Mermaid), as is the connection of Red and Rat to basilisks.