This chapter's epigraph is from a poem by a famous poet. It's about a man who is defeated by a snake. The poem is about a boy who is beaten by a brat. The brat is a famous brahmin monk and his uncle. The boy is also famous for killing his uncle without breaking a sweat. The snake is horrified. He's also horrified by the fact that the brat killed his uncle and his master without a scratch. He also wants to know if the snake can treat his wound with the essence-conjugal pill. He says it's the same thing he's heard about. The young will eventually defeat the old, and the old will eventually be overthrown. He thinks the snake has forgotten everything that he taught him. He wonders if the old monk is on his way to kill the snake. He wants to kill him, but the snake says he still has hundreds of snakes waiting for him to come back to feed them. He doesn't want to be killed yet, but he knows that they still need to find out the details of the sariras's whereabouts. He tells the snake to swallow the heart-eating gu down his throat if he still wants to live. He promises to never betray his master.