In which the narrator visits Ivan Matveitch hidden within the crocodile, encountering his feverish vanity and grandiose schemes for celebrity and influence, whilst grappling with the surreal reality of Ivan’s condition and his eerie contentedness. Amidst talks of nourishment, freedom, and future plans, both the German proprietor’s greed and the narrator’s simmering resentment paint a vivid picture of a most peculiar and uneasy friendship.