The story opens with a young man, a thirty-year-old bachelor, talking to his mother in his native tongue. The young man asks his mother why she has come to live with him, and she tells him that she came because she didn't know how to speak or learn the language. She also says that she is the one who is "despicable" because she doesn't express herself well enough. The bachelor tells his mother that he has come because he wants to be with her, and that she should not let him touch her hair or her body. He says that his ears are already "big" and that he will be ashamed of himself for the first time in his life if his ears get any bigger. He tells her that he hopes she will not get into trouble with her family, her social evaluation, or anything else that could cause her to lose her mind. The mother tells him not to worry, that she knows his concerns, and he says that he wants her to be happy. She tells him to go and buy her some honeysuckle tea, and the young man agrees.