Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to death by suicide.

Since Madame Aubain is “thoroughly irritated” by Loulou, she gifts the parrot to Félicité. Any guests to the house are similarly unimpressed with the parrot, which will not respond when people talk to it. When Fabu, a butcher’s boy, becomes frustrated with the parrot, he tries to hit it. Félicité, however, loves Loulou. She almost feels as though she has a child of her own. She notices that the parrot likes certain guests, including Bourais, who laughs at the bird. Félicité takes Loulou outside for a walk but loses him when she places him down on the grass. For hours, she runs through the cold town. When she returns to Madame Aubain to tell her what has happened, Loulou is already in the garden. Though she finds Loulou, the strain of running around in the cold causes Félicité to contract tonsilitis. The illness leaves her almost completely deaf. As a result, she spends more time inside. She cannot talk to people or take instructions from Madame Aubain. The only sounds she can hear are those made by Loulou.