Summary

The next day, Brother Andre returns to the house. Madame Wu, however, calls him to talk with her before he goes into his lesson with Fengmo. Their conversation is deep and intense, and Madame Wu is again surprised to discover how much of her own way of thinking, wondering, and questioning is echoed in the ideas and words of another. After they have finished talking, Madame Wu looks up and out at the stars, contemplating the ways in which generations build, both literally and spiritually, on those that have gone before; contemplating the space, spiritual and physical, between the stars and between people; and the surprising ways of what Brother Andre has taught her of the wider world. Her contemplations last so long and are so deep that first her three sons, and then Mr. Wu, come to her and gently try to talk...