"The Jealous Shoemaker" and "Numbered Days" are envy-tainted tales that deal with jealously guarded secrets of the past. The distant past has become a lost paradise for old men such as Pietro d'Arborio and Bliss (Dodo) Bane. Hell-bent on telling their versions of the truth, they also bear witness to life's stunning surprises, twisted ironies, dark enchantments, and puzzling mysteries. In a bewildering world, tainted by violence, guilt, jealousy, and revenge, they try to outface time's shocks, and get even with their tormentors and adversaries. Haunted, how can they prevail against past rejection, absurdity and horror? For these old men, is the past just baggage? Or is it never over? If they look for closure, will they be relieved to find it? The two tales in Jealousy link the shadows of the vanishing world with the realities of the here-and-now.
