Summary

In Chapter 14, Lamentations docked her boat “to stretch her legs” (147). When she lost sight of the bay, she felt “low and sad” (148).

Back on the water, she spotted two children on the riverbank. She floated past, imagining how their story of her would be passed down. She would survive “her own body’s decline and death” (150). However, when she heard the children laughing, she “became angry in her loneliness” (151).

Lamentations passed several days in this manner. She started “sleeping longer to avoid her hunger” (154). However, even in sleep, she felt unsettled. Finally, she abandoned her boat and continued on foot.

In Chapter 15, throughout her wanderings, Lamentations comforted herself with dreams “of her dutchboy glassblower” (157). To feed herself, she hunted fish in the water with her knife. At night, she sang herself songs. She returned to “the mistress’s old house in the city...