This chapter's epigraph comes from the play's opening soliloquy: "What were you thinking / To acknowledge a letter / That wasn't sent by you?" . It's a reference to a letter that was sent by a girl named Soekidin to a boy named Nestor, asking Nestor to challenge Soekidi to a game of badminton. Nestor responds that he'd like to test his skills at the game, but first he's got to figure out whether or not Nestor is strong enough to take on the girl.