Chapter 14 Summary

Dame Hortense asks whether there is a letter from Zorba, prompting the narrator to invent kind words for her in Zorba's voice. Enraptured by the news but still not sated, Hortense prods the narrator with cries of "Nothing else?" until he proposes marriage on behalf of the absent Zorba. She immediately lays out instructions on what her betrothed must bring from Candia for the ceremony. Soon after, there is a commotion in the village: Pavli, Mavrandoni's son, has drowned himself for unrequited love of the widow. A woman calls for the widow's death, but the narrator shouts that Pavli's death is not her fault. Old Anagnosti regards Pavli as blessed because he could not have lived happily with the widow or without her, and now he is at peace. As the narrator strolls home, Mimiko approaches with a basket of oranges from the...