Kushner, Donn

A poor violin-maker gives away a foundling bird, not realizing its rare and wonderful gifts.

Nonesuch, the last in a line of dragons, uses his unique ability to change in size to survive for six centuries, during which time he observes such different humans as a medieval monk, an eighteenth-century London chemist, and a modern American bookseller.

Paul discovers the story of his Great Uncle Jacob, the black sheep of the family, who believed that the ghosts of two beloved friends followed him when he emigrated from Poland to America.