Pablo, the woman, María, the gypsy Rafael, Anselmo, and three other men are back at the cave. Pablo has no pity when he hears of Agustín. Robert Jordan drinks absinthe, an extremely strong alcohol. It relaxes him, taking the place "of all things he had enjoyed and forgotten and that came back to him when he tasted that opaque, bitter, tongue-numbing, brain-warming, stomach-warming, idea-changing liquid alchemy." Chapter 4, pg. 51 Robert Jordan looks at the men: one has a large flat face, and the other two are brothers, both heavy and dark. Pablo says he does not want to explode the bridge. Anselmo calls him a coward. Pablo's wife says that she is for the bridge and against him.
They fight, and he says that it is not cowardly to know what is foolish. Anselmo replies that it is not foolish to know what is cowardly. Pablo threatens his life. Pablo talks of bullfighters, who take no chances and are safe. His wife says that is what bullfighters say before they are gored, for she lived nine years with bullfighters. She tells him to take the wax out of his hairy ears. He tells her that since she is a woman as well as commander, to serve supper. Robert Jordan shows sketches to the flat-faced man, Primitivo and the scarred brother, Andrés. Pablo seems disinterested.
