Chapter 18 Summary

The abbot tries to extract a higher fee from Zorba than had originally been negotiated, but Zorba resolves to get the best of him. He feels he needs to make up for spending all of the narrator's money in Candia and won't accept less than full atonement for his actions. In the night, the narrator hears a gunshot and is startled from sleep, but Zorba shrugs it off. He's still angry that the abbot has tried to raise the price of land. Presently, the bishop knocks on their door, and the travelers shelter him from the commotion on the grounds. As a token of thanks, the bishop shares his three great theories on religion and asks the narrator's opinion on them. He receives an answer that validates his life's work - "Those theories may save many souls" (204).

Zorba quickly mocks the bishop with...