Summary
As a late moon rises outside, nearby motion rouses Kino
from his sleep. In the pale light, he is barely able to discern
Juana, who moves toward the fireplace, quietly gathers the pearl,
and sneaks out into the night. Kino stealthily follows her as she
heads toward the shore. When she hears him in pursuit, Juana breaks
into a run, but Kino apprehends her just as she is preparing to
hurl the pearl into the water. Grabbing the pearl from her, he punches
her in the face and kicks her in the side when she falls down. As
Kino hovers over Juana, the waves break upon her crumpled body.
He hisses menacingly above her, then turns in disgust and leaves
her without a word.
As Kino makes his way up the beach, a group of men assaults him.
Kino struggles violently as they paw and prod at him. As Kino drives
his knife into one of his attackers, the men knock the pearl from
his grasp. Meanwhile, some distance away from the fight, Juana gets
up on her knees and begins to make her way home. Climbing through
the brush, she sees the pearl lying in the path. She picks it up
and considers returning to the sea to discard the pearl once and
for all.
At this moment, Juana spies two dark figures lying in
the road and recognizes one of them as Kino. In the next instant,
Juana realizes that Kino has killed the man slumped by his side.
Juana drags the dead body into the brush and then helps Kino, who
moans about losing his pearl. Juana silences him by showing him
the pearl and explains that they must flee immediately because Kino
has committed a horrible crime. Kino protests that he acted in self-defense,
but Juana argues that his alibi won’t matter at all to the authorities. Kino
realizes that Juana is right, and they resolve to flee.
While Juana runs back to the brush house to grab Coyotito,
Kino returns to the beach to ready his canoe for the escape. He
finds that someone has punched a large hole in the boat’s bottom.
Filled with sorrow and rage, he quickly scrambles back to his brush
house, moments before dawn. As he arrives in the vicinity of the
neighborhood, he notices flames and realizes that his house is burning.
As he runs toward the fire, Juana meets him with Coyotito in her
arms. She confirms that their house has been burned down completely.
As the neighbors rush to control the fire and to save their own
houses, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito duck between the shadows and into
Juan Tomás’s house.
In the darkness inside Juan Tomás’s house, Kino and Juana
listen as the neighbors attempt to subdue the fire and speculate
that Kino and Juana have been killed in the blaze. The couple can
only listen as Juan Tomás’s wife, Apolonia, wails in mourning for
the loss of her relatives. When Apolonia returns to her house to
change head shawls, Kino whispers to her, explaining that they are
taking refuge. Kino instructs Apolonia to bring Juan Tomás to them
and to keep their whereabouts a secret. She complies, and Juan Tomás
arrives moments later, posting Apolonia at the door to keep watch
while he talks with Kino.
Kino explains that he inadvertently killed a man after
being attacked in the darkness. Juan Tomás blames this misfortune
on the pearl and advises Kino to sell it without delay. Kino, however,
is more focused on his losses, detailing the destruction of his
canoe and his house. He implores Juan Tomás to hide them in his
house for a night, until they can gather themselves and make a second
attempt to flee. Juan Tomás hesitates to bring danger upon himself
but ultimately agrees to shelter them and keep silent about their
plans.
