Book 2, The Things We Learned (142-158) Summary

Some people send a note after coming to dinner. Anatole sends a boy named Nelson. The family is to feed him, let him sleep in the chicken house, and give him a basket of eggs each week that he can sell to start saving up for a wife. In return, Nelson will gather firewood, boil pots of manioc, and bring food back from the forest. Anatole chooses Nelson because Nelson is an orphan. Nelson concocts a headache remedy for Mother. He identifies snakes according to the categories of death they inflict. He constructs a frame for Rachel's mirror so that it can be hung on the wall. Nelson quickly learns English.

Leah imagines walking with Anatole on the path to the river. She asks him about the scars on his face and he...