Lapvona

Lapvona undergoes a horrifying, months-long drought during the summer. The bandits intercept the late spring harvest and then the summer crops fail, leaving the village destitute. Villagers visit Jude, begging to trade their goods for his lambs, but Jude refuses, insisting that eating meat is a sin. One by one the lambs die of thirst, and Jude buries their bodies, entering a deep state of mourning. The villagers begin to eat anything and everything available to them to escape starvation: “Dead bees, bats, vermin, worms, dirt, and even old, desiccated cakes of animal dung had filled their bellies” (92). Jude eventually begins to eat mud down at the lake, where most of the villagers have camped out. At the lake, he sees a man, Klim, who has a dog on the leash. The dog pulls, causing Klim to fall and die. Fearing what the villagers will do, Jude hoists Klim over his shoulder and flees.

Meanwhile, Marek wakes to his new life in the manor, where he lives as Villiam’s son. Although he has had some difficulties adjusting—eating meat for the first time caused him to vomit, and he is no longer allowed to self-flagellate—Marek enjoys Villiam’s attentions, which seem more genuine than any he received from Jude.