Summary

Dovaleh continues his comedy but draws more halfhearted applause from the audience, and he begins doubting himself. He tells a joke about a foulmouthed parrot, which rouses stronger laughter from the crowd, although the narrator notes the laughter sounds more forced. He notes a slight woman absorbed in Dovaleh's performance, and he himself ponders why he came, what he owes a man whom he scarcely remembers from childhood. As Dovaleh begins a monologue about the soul's maintenance, the narrator asks for his check, a gesture Dovaleh notices. Dovaleh's stand-up becomes more frantic until he segues into talking the topic of justice and, to the narrator's embarrassment, introduces him to the entire crowd as Avishai Lazar, supreme court justice. The waitress brings out the check as everyone is looking at Avishai, who hides it and remains in his seat, fuming with anger at Dovaleh...