Chapter X Summary

In chapter ten, Jake is tired of Harlem and takes a job on the railroad, spending only one day a week or so in Harlem. Jake is working on the Pennsylvania Railroad in the kitchen of a dining car, as third cook. He is under a tough chef that the men liken to a rhinoceros. The chef accuses the fourth waiter, also called the mule, of rushing him for an order of lamb chops, beginning a long standing resentment by this and other waiters. Jake borrows some money from a waiter and wins five dollars gambling. Jake goes over to the waiter and inspects a book that the waiter is reading. The book is named Sappho and is in French. The waiter explains that Sappho was an ancient female Greek poet who committed suicide because of her love for a boy...