Summary

Mr. Biswas goes to Hanuman House to paint signs for the Tulsi store, and is enchanted by the smile of the girl at the counter. He works up the courage to write her a note that says, “I love you and I want to talk to you.” When Shama smiles at the note, he interprets her response as mockery and thinks he has made a fool of himself. Ashamed, he tries to get the note back, but Mrs. Tulsi, Shama’s mother, comes into the store to settle a dispute between Shama and a customer. She sees the note and takes it. She scolds Shama for playing a trick on the customer, and Shama bursts into tears, disintegrating Mr. Biswas’s enchanting image of her, and he slinks out of the store.

He decides to go about his business as if nothing has happened, but after...