Chapter 3 Summary

On his first full day, Hans looks out from his room and notices a tragic-looking old woman in black pacing in the garden. He hears sounds of lovemaking from the room next door and blushes, a blush that stays on his face for the next days and weeks.

At first breakfast, Joachim explains that the woman in black is called Tous-les-deux (both of them) by the patients, because she does not speak German and that is all the French she knows. It means that both of her sons are dying of tuberculosis at the sanatorium. After Hans is introduced to his tablemates, including Frau Stohr, he is annoyed by someone slamming the door behind his back, but he can't see whom.

When Dr. Behrens and Dr. Krokowski visit their table, Dr. Behrens notices that Hans is anemic and suggests that while visiting, Hans...