The hermit had taken the priest’s advice to open himself to the world. In his previous incarnation as an insurance broker, it would have been unimaginable for him to associate with a butcher. Not out of snobbery by nature, but in the past, he would not have engaged in conversation with a person like Walter in an otherwise empty train compartment. It would not have occurred to him. Since the butcher had made the significant effort to struggle up the hill to meet him and introduced himself as a friend of the delightful Alice, the recluse decided to make an attempt to be sociable, although he didn’t feel at ease. To Noam’s discomfort, the butcher began by offering his gift of beef sausages, stressing that he hadn’t brought his best pork ones. It meant that the townsfolk knew that he was a Je