The Pearl: chapter 4

The way news spread in the town still surprises the narrator. He wonders how things are interlinked and behave in a habitual manner. This makes it very easy for the news about Kino planning to sell the pearl to spread very swiftly. The grocerystore owners, fishermen, nuns and even the beggars know about it. Even the pearl buyers themselves have known about it and are seated in their rooms with their trays on the tables, waiting for Kino to come to them.

The pearl buyers only pretend to be acting individually but the truth is there is only one pearl buyer, who employs agents to break the price for him. They all know the price beyond which they should not go and they struggle to buy the pearls at the lowest price possible. That makes them happy and satisfied.

Everything in the city has come to a standstill. People have not gone to work for they must witness everything that will happen when Kino sells his pearl. The neighbours are so fascinated that they imagine what they would do with the proceeds if they had found the pearl. One says that he would give it to the Pope as a present, another one would buy enough masses for the souls of his family to last them a thousand years, another one says he would sell it and distribute it to the poor people of the brush houses and the last one imagines doing all the good things possible. It is their hope that the fortunes would not turn Juana and Kino into evil people like all the other rich people.

There is a lot of optimism in the air. Kino and Juana hope that things are going to change henceforth and that all the other dates would from this moment be counted from when they sold the pear. Kino even hopes that he is wearing his ragged clothes for the last time. Their neighbours accompany them as a sign of friendship. Along the way, many people join them and the procession grows bigger and bigger. His brother, Juan Tomas, walks with him. He tells him about how long ago their fathers sent people to sell their pearl on their behalf and ended up never being seen again until they decided to do away with that method of selling pearls.

The pearl buyers prepare to receive the pearl. They even hide their inferior pearls for they have heard of the goodness of Kino's pearl. There's is one particular stout man sitting in waiting. He throws a coin back and forth as he waits. When Kino tells him that he has a pearl, he feigns calmness and promises him a good price after its valuation.

The pearl buyer examines Kino's pearl and tells him it is too big and clumsy; and, therefore, valueless. He offers him a thousand pesos. Kino is infuriated because he thinks his pearl is worth fifty thousand pesos. The buyer sends a boy to summon three other buyers to confirm the price. On the other hand, Kino's neighbours think a thousand pesos is quite an amount to a poor man like him. The three other pearl buyers come in and are allowed to examine the pearl. The first dealer dismisses it saying it is a monstrosity and not a pearl. He does not want to be part of the deal. The second dealer claims that the pearl is made of chalk and not paste as all good pearls. He invites Kino to use his magnification lens to prove his claim. The last dealer offers five hundred pesos and says that he could sell it to one of his clients at six hundred pesos.

Kino is so vexed by the kind of offers the dealers give that he decides to walk away with is pearl and perhaps sell it at the capital. He is not interested even when the first dealer raises his offer to fifteen hundred. The buyers realize their mistake and wish they had not been too hard on him, but it is too late.

Kino hides his pearl under a stone of the fire hole. He is worried and terrified by the city and its structre. His brother Juan Tomas joins him and reveals his fear for him. He fears because Kino has defied the system which has exploited the people of the brush houses for many years. Kino reveals that the desire for his son to have education is his driving force. He also says that the only thing he fears is starvation.

When Juan Tomas leaves, Kino starts to hear the music of the enemy. Juana also hears the music of evil. However, she counters it by singing the song of the family, safety and warmth and wholeness of the family to Coyotito to drive away evil from him. He senses danger outside and picks his knife and jumps into the dark. It is already too late when Juana gets outside to help him. He lies on the ground and struggles to stand. He suffers a huge slash on his face. It bleeds heavily. She asks him who the assailant was but he says he did not see who it was. She proposes that they throw away the pearl since it is evil, but Kino is very determined to keep it.

Kino convinces Juana to be patient until the next morning when they will go across the sea to sell the pearl in the capital. He is not ready to let anyone take away their good fortune.