Summary

Pages 130 – 157. As Henry, Erasmus, and the taxidermist walk back to the shop, Henry comments on how the taxidermist does not seem to like people. When the taxidermist reacts with apparent resentment, “animal-like in its intensity” (130), Henry revises his comment to suggest that the taxidermist simply finds animals more reliable. The taxidermist does not respond, resuming conversation only when they return to the back room of the shop and he, as Henry notices, has become visibly more comfortable in the presence of the animals there.

The taxidermist speaks of how the range of most of Virgil’s feelings shrank as a result of his realizations, leaving fear dominant; how he feels that if it were not for Beatrice in his life, he would feel nothing positive at all; and how his joy at realizing he has got something left in life leads him to playing...