"The Glass of Milk" is Manuel Rojas' short story about pride, despair and compassion when a young boy's hunger will not allow him to ask for desperately needed food, which is supplied unquestioningly by a kind woman.

As the story begins, a young man emerges from some freight cars on a shipyard dock, looks out to sea and walks idly along the wharf's edge. As the young man passes in front of a docked ship, a sailor who holds a white paper-wrapped bundle calls out to the boy, inquiring if he is hungry. The boy hesitates for a moment but replies that he is not hungry. He thanks the sailor and continues on his way, embarrassed that the sailor seems to think the boy is needy.

Soon after, the sailor calls out to a tramp passing behind the boy and inquires if the tramp is...