Rudyard Kipling is well known to Russian readers, but few people know that a large role in Kipling’s biography and work was played by his affiliation with Freemasonry, in which he saw the enormous potential for preserving brotherhood and highly learned dialogue in the impending nightmare of world upheaval. In addition to the stories included in the “Lodge” cycle (1918-1929), this collection includes two ironic philosophical short stories about the adventures of characters from Christian mythology during the years of world upheaval at the beginning of the twentieth century.