Summary

In the fifth chapter, entitled “Balandran,” the narrator describes his changed relationship with Balandran after his hallucinatory ordeal on Christmas eve. The narrator is now able to observe a greater portion of Balandran’s daily activities, as well as speak with him at greater length. At last the narrator is let into the storeroom. The narrator also describes Balandran’s various huts throughout the island.

The narrator then marks the date of January sixth, and the beginning of a new feeling of anxiety. Balandran informs the narrator that three ewes from the flock have fallen ill and that he must visit Le Regregue. As he falls asleep that evening, he dreams about a meeting taking place among his Megremut family members, who are in the midst of entertaining a guest. The guest is implied to be the narrator himself, and the family talks about...