ABSTRACT
A few days after the wedding of Tafulla and Muli, Tafulla’s parents tell Muli that they are retiring, now that they have a new son-in-law to support them. To feed four adults, Muli draws on the funds from his business, which fails. He loses his place in the market and returns to working as an unskilled laborer.
Tafulla gives birth to an infant who dies within three days. Muli, seeking an excuse to leave her, accuses her of seducing him with a magic spell. Muli’s first wife, Kia, and Muli’s brothers-in-law drag Muli back to his village; Tafulla runs after them. That night, Muli sleeps uncomfortably between his two wives. When Tafulla realizes that she has lost him, she returns to her own village and never comes back.
As in the previous chapter, Muli depicts himself as without a will of his own. His brothers-in-law take him to a magical curer to break the spell that Tafulla is said to have put on him. While narrating this strange tale, Muli insisted that his downfall was caused by the magic spell, and not by any fault on his part.
Whatever the causes, Muli’s downfall in this chapter is a crucial turning point in his life. Rarely do untouchables receive an opportunity to break out of the cycle of poverty, hunger, and unskilled labor; Muli was given such a chance but destroyed it.
