i
- Achille has come to a foreign shore—it's the coast of Africa, straight out of the movies he saw as a child—and is taken captive by a warrior, who paddles him up a muddy river.
- God speaks to Achille, telling him that he's been granted permission to go home, and that he sent the bird as a guide.
- Achille feels as though he should remember the names of the gods of his ancestral home, but can't.
ii
- Achille makes his way down this branch of the Congo and comes to a settlement; someone helps him out of the boat.
- The narrator interrupts to say that he is half with Achille at this point and half with the midshipman in the Netherlands. Cool party trick, bro.
- Achille is welcomed by the people of the settlement and brought to a hut. He sees his father walking toward him.
iii
- Achille faces his father and the two introduce themselves (time works as some kind of universal translator).
- Achille's father is called Afolabe. He and the rest of the tribe don't understand the meaning of Achille's name, so Afolabe asks—but Achille doesn't know.
- He tells his father that he and the others in St. Lucia don't remember the name for anything in their African tongue.
- Afolabe explains the importance of a name: It conveys a virtue and a hope for the child.
- Achille says that he doesn't know what his name means and he doesn't care, he just accepts it.
- Afolabe and the members of his tribe are not impressed. He tells Achille that his lack of interest in names threatens their existence.