Part 2, Chapter 3 Summary

For several days, the gods leave Orual to mull over being Ungit. She recalls Greek legends of Eleusis living again after postmortem rituals and Socrates talking about the soul being "dragged back through the fear of the invisible" after death. Orual believes, with the gods' help (if they will help), she can change her ugly soul into a fair one, and she strives to be calm and wise, but rage, resentment, fantasy, and bitterness flow back swiftly. Without beauty of soul, the gods will not love her any more than a man would without beauty of face. Winners and losers are marked out from birth, and fate must be accepted. In a waking dream, Orual finds herself on a riverbank opposite a flock of golden rams. Figuring if she can steal one, she will have beauty, Orual wades across, and the...