“I don’t think he speaks English, after all,” Jacky said, speaking through a smile.

“Hello,” Marty said.

“Hello!” the man said.

“Is that the only word you know?” Rad asked.

He smiled at her.

“Vanakkam,” Jacky said, which is an approximation of “hello” in Tamil.

The chief pointed at her feet and said, “Shoes!”

“Shoes, that’s right,” she said, nodding agreeably.

He pointed at Rad’s feet, then Marty’s, then his own, saying, “Shoes! Shoes! Shoes!” Then he pointed at the hunter’s bare feet and said, “No shoes!” This observation caused him to burst into croaky laughter.

Marty and the girls laughed hesitantly, and Marty tried introducing himself again. He pointed to his chest, saying, “Martin.”

The chief pointed at Marty’s chest. “Martin.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Marty pointed at the chief’s chest. “Name?”

The chief touched his chest. “Name.”

“So he knows ‘shoes’ but not ‘name’?” said Rad. “Who taught him English?”

The chief held out his arms, showing off his wrist jewelry. Three of the watches were analogue and one was digital. None were working. He said, “Watch.”

“They’re very nice,” Marty said, then raised his own wristwatch. “Watch.”

“Watch!” the man said, staring at it. He pointed at Rad’s bare wrist, then at Jacky’s, then at the hunter’s, saying, “No watch!” each time. This once again cracked him up.

Marty found the old man’s materialism amusing and laughed as well, this time genuinely.

The chief pointed at Marty’s watch again and said, “No watch.”

Marty frowned and said, “Watch.”

“No watch.”

“Watch.”

“No watch!”

Rad said, “I think he wants your watch, Marty.”

“The hell he does!”

“Where do you think he got his watches from? They’re likely gifts from previous visitors. You better give yours to him as well.”

“I’m not giving him my bloody watch, Rad. It’s a Rolex.”

“Give it to him, Marty,” Jacky said. “Maybe then he’ll let us go.”

Cursing under his breath, Marty unclasped the Rolex and held it forth in offering, the eighteen-karat gold gleaming brightly. The chief accepted it with both hands. After a perfunctory examination of the gift, he slid it onto his left wrist next to a fifty-dollar Casio and said, “Friend.”

∆∆∆