Chapter 3 Summary

After resting the night at Dame Hortense's hotel, the narrator goes for an early morning stroll in the Cretan countryside. He encounters some young women, who are frightened because the fear of strangers has become ingrained in the culture through a history of violence. Soon the fear passes, and the girls continue on their way. The narrator contemplates the sea, and reads from Dante before Zorba interrupts him to come in for lunch.

The village elder Mavrandoni offers the travelers lodging so that they may avoid the scandal associated with staying in a woman's home. Zorba and the narrator refuse. At dinner, Zorba sets the table for three people so that Dame Hortense may join them. Here, Zorba begins to romance her in earnest. Madame Hortense reveals her great loves, four admirals from England, France, Italy, Russia. The greatest of these, the Italian...