Ibarra visits the philosopher Tasio and shares his plan to build a new school. He seeks advice, to which Tasio declines as the populace considers him a madman.

The town’s preparations for the festival in honor of San Diego continue. In addition to physical decorations, the narrator points out the many ways in which the townspeople, including Father Dámaso, use the celebration as an excuse for vice (i.e., gambling and cockfighting).

Ibarra and Tiago discuss the new school and what it should be named. Later, Ibarra meets with Captain Basilio and is invited to a card game that night; he turns down the offer. Out with friends, María-Clara sees a leper and gives him a reliquary (a container with a sacred relic). Sisa reappears and touches the leper—and is hastily carted away by a civil guardsman.