No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain. Short summary

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A novel about a fallen angel named Satan or #44. He is the nephew of the chief Satan and befriends the boys in Renaissance Austria. He tells them that everything is a dream and there is no world or God.

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The only completed version of Mark Twain’s novel about the supernatural character #44.

In 1590, 3 boys, Theodore, Selly, and Nikolaus live in the lost Austrian village of Ezeldorf.

One day a handsome boy who calls himself Satan appears in the village. He confesses to the three friends that he is a fallen angel and is the nephew of the chief fallen angel. Satan says that the future is revealed to him, and he portends bad fortune for the boys’ loved ones.

The friends do not believe Satan, but his predictions come true. Satan tells them of further events that turn out to be even worse. The friends ask Satan to intervene, but instead of a hard and slow death for one of Theodore’s friends, he sends him an early death.

Satan takes the children from their home village to other places and shows them the horrors of the world—fanatics, executions at the stake, hangings, and mass psychosis. He then declares that there is no God, no people, no heaven, no hell, but only a silly dream in which a stray thought is confused. After which he disappears.