Summary

Before the auction in Saint Apolonia’s Parish, Father Luigi had Gustavo sign a contract that he says formalizes their terms regarding the auction. Gustavo signed the contract without reading it. Gustavo then went to the pulpit to start the auction, and he found that he was nervous because his son Siddhartha was in the crowd. Gustavo began the auction by saying that he would be auctioning off the teeth of some rather interesting people. He began with an old, worn tooth of his that he announced belonged to the Greek philosopher Plato. He detailed everything that could be deduced about Plato from the condition of the tooth. The tooth sold for 5,000 pesos. He claimed that the next tooth belonged to the famous Christian theologian Saint Augustine of Hippo. Gustavo said that Augustine suffered from a near-fatal tooth infection that he survived through prayer...