Chapter Three Summary

Chapter Three continues with Rodrigues' letters. The time is now June, the start of the Japanese rainy season. The rain only intensifies the priests' confinement and sets their nerves on edge.

The villagers keep a detailed calendar of Christian feasts and conscientiously observe the sacred holidays. The peasants have perfected their meeting strategy. If officials should burst into a house meeting, it will appear that the villagers are only gathering to discuss ordinary village concerns. Officials have made it extremely difficult for Christians to gather, even in secret. A reward of three hundred pieces of silver is offered to anyone who informs the officials about hidden priests, two hundred pieces for information about a brother, and one hundred pieces about secret Christians. This is why tension and distrust are so high between villages.

One day, the priests sit crushing small bugs...