The month of October is coming to an end and Don Santiago de los Santos (commonly referred to in the area as Capitan Tiago) is hosting a dinner at his house in Binondo which is located along Anloague Street and near the Pasig River. Capitan Tiago's cousin is receiving the lady guests as well as offering cigars and a compound of betel nut, leaves, and lime to Spaniards. She soon gets bored, leaves the party which is being held at the living room, and never reappears.
Sitting around one of the tables at the living room are Padre Damaso (a Franciscan priest), Padre Sibyla (a Dominican priest), a blond youth who is a newcomer to the Philippines, Senor Laruja, and a soldier (a Teniente). The five men are feasting on English biscuits and bottles of wine. Padre Damaso is telling the group of how ignorant and indolent the Filipino people (indio) are.
Padre Damaso and the Lieutenant nearly figures in a fist fight after the former insults the Vice-Royal Patron (Capitan General). But Padre Sibyla intervenes and prevents the potential scuttle.
Doctor de Espadana and his wife Dona Victorina arrives at the dinner party. Padre Damaso and group greet the couple and engage them in a conversation about the invention of the gunpowder.
List of characters who appeared in the chapter:
1. Don Santiago de los Santos or Capitan Tiago
2. Padre Damaso
3. Padre Sibyla
4. Senor Laruja
5. Dona Victorina de Espadana
6. Don Tiburcio de Espadana
7. Leiutenant Guevarra
8. the blond youth
9. Tiya Isabel
Notes and analysis:
1. Padre Damaso is quickly established as a priest with a very high level of self-entitlement. He not only despises Filipinos, he also deem them to be both indolent and ignorant. He is also shown as a man with a bad temper as evidenced by his fist-raising during the heated conversation with Lieutenant Guevarra.
