Summary

In the park, Margayya spots the priest of his neighborhood temple. The priest him to go with him to the temple, where he lives. Margayya declines a tumbler of milk that Margayya offers, and the priest lectures him, saying that declining milk is declining Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Margayya asks the priest how he can acquire wealth. The priest answers that he must pray.

Margayya returns home, feeing that he is one against “the master in his house” (226). One day, while Margayya is going over the accounts, his son Balu asks him to play. They tussle, and Balu spills ink all over the account book. The boy then grabs the book and runs off, into the street, where he throws the account book in the gutter. Angry, Margayya slaps Balu across his bottom. The gathering crowd turns on him.

His...