ABSTRACT
At the market, Muli spends money freely on his friends and relatives. A transvestite named Bana befriends him, invites him to his village, and introduces him to his sister Tafulla. Bana’s family flatters and entertains Muli, who remains overnight. Soon Muli and Tafulla are sleeping together, while Kia remains alone in Muli’s village. Muli lives with Tafulla for over a year. When she becomes pregnant, the caste elders of her ward demand that Muli marry her. Muli’s parents refuse to attend the ceremony; his first wife attends, but remains secluded in a nearby hut, wailing.
Muli blames his difficulties, not on himself, but on Tafulla and her relatives, whom he says put a magic love spell on him. He views himself as utterly dependent, first on Tafulla and later on his first wife to rescue him from his predicament.
This chapter contains a number of fascinating colloquial expressions and proverbs, as well as Tafulla’s devastating rebuttal to the men in her ward who demand that she reveal the name of the man who made her pregnant.
