Summary

Homeless, p. 79 – 111. As Tomas continues to drive, he becomes increasingly itchy and increasingly nervous about the car. He also becomes nervous about the time he is taking away from his archiving job, narration revealing that he had arranged for only ten days leave. If he extends beyond ten days, he believes he will be fired. During a rainstorm, Tomas encounters a silent shepherd who leaves him a gift of food, as it is close to Christmas. Shortly afterwards, and as he passes through yet another village, he finds a blacksmith with a large supply of moto-naptha which, Tomas discovers, is primarily used to kill infesting insects like those he has come to believe are causing his itching. Tomas buys both liquid naptha (for the car) and powdered naptha (for the insects that he believes are causing his itching) and, after the blacksmith refers...