i
- Achille takes on life in the settlement, learning to drink and eat traditionally and to listen to the mythic stories of his people.
- He attempts to invoke the gods, but they are silent.
ii
- Achille does not feel at one with his people, and he isolates himself and is sorely homesick for the ocean.
- He asks the river to help him "forget the future." It is unclear whether he wants to forget St. Lucia because he misses it, or because he knows that slavery is coming for his people.
- Because of his brooding, the people of his tribe avoid him.
iii
- Achille has a dream of walking along the bottom of the sea, crossing time and space to find himself back off the island of St. Lucia. When he awakens, he is back in the settlement.
- There is a feast and Achille notes the "sameness" of the celebrations, dances, and costumes.