- Vahan is afraid he'll accidentally speak—even in his dreams—so he practices being quiet and regulating his breathing so no one thinks he can hear what they're saying.
- Soon he falls into the rhythms of the community. He watches their church services with interest, figures out what they call each other, and even gets a new name: Galib.
- Vahan tells us that as the months pass, he thinks of himself more as Galib than Vahan. After all, he's got to play the part of deaf mute day in and day out, so in a lot of ways Galib's really who he is now.
- He goes hunting with the group, and they think he's a "born hunter" because he's got good instincts; Vahan is put in charge of the sheep, and feels at home with the community.
- At night the men dance around the fire, and Vahan sees a pretty girl named Shirin—he imagines whispering to her that he's Armenian, and she says she already knows.
- Later, Mustafa comes over to Vahan and says he knows. The jig is up—it's clear that Vahan isn't deaf or mute, and that he's Armenian, not Turkish. Uh-oh…
- Vahan tries to control his breathing, to act like he can't hear what the guy is saying.
- The next day, Vahan is watching the sheep when he drifts off to sleep—and when Mustafa wakes him, all the sheep are gone. Oops. He gets a beating for losing the animals, but luckily they are found soon after.
- Over time, Vahan's nose and face heal from being hit, and he starts to feel better. This is really like home now.
- One day Vahan hears the others saying Armenian over and over to each other—he's not sure what's going on, but then he spots an escaped Armenian prisoner. Before Vahan figures out what's happening, the prisoner is shot.
- He figures he's got to go. These people might be nice to him when they think he's deaf and mute, but they won't be when they find out where he's really from—and if this is how they treat Armenians, then no thank you.
- In the middle of the night, he goes over to Shirin, kisses her, tells her thanks in Turkish and then Armenian, and runs.