Chapter 7 Summary

The narrator asks Zorba if he's ever been married, and Zorba goes into a litany of the different relationships a man may have with a woman. He says he's been married "honestly" once; he counts himself twice wedded "half-honestly," by which he means serious but informal relationships; and he's been married a thousand times "dishonestly," a category comprising every sexual adventure he's ever experienced. Zorba doesn't have much to say about his "honest" marriage, and he says he once kept track of all his trysts by clipping a lock of each woman's hair but soon abandoned the project.

For the two "half-honest" lovers, though, Zorba goes into extensive detail, relating his intense feelings for Sophinka and Noussa. Zorba stayed 3 months with Sophinka, living in a small cottage with her grandmother; 10 days after leaving Sophinka's village, he meets Noussa. Zorba is invited to a...