Chapter 5 and 6

David is a college professor in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a man who used to see a prostitute weekly until the prostitute quit her job at the brothel he attended. He leaves his job at the university after having sexual relations with one of his students. He is a twice-divorced man who has found pleasure in women his whole life. His desires have gotten him in trouble, and now have left him alone and hurt. David's daughter, Lucy, lives on a farm in the Eastern Cape, and he goes to visit her after the incident at the University. David is a city man, and is uncomfortable with the thought of his daughter living on a farm. Since he now has no job, he has plenty of time to concentrate on the opera about Byron that he has had floating in his head for quite some time. It takes him a long time to build up his concentration, but he finally begins to craft a love story out of the characters of Byron and Teresa. He identifies himself more closely with Teresa, who sings endlessly to her dead lover who had betrayed her while alive.

David's character changes in some ways, and stays the same in others, throughout the story. He has been a man who has been set in his ways his whole life, and it is very hard for him to change. As he leaves the city and comes to the farm, he slowly adapts to the country way of life. In the beginning, he despises people like Bev Shaw, and dislikes animals. Towards the end of the story, he grows to love the unwanted and sick dogs, and feels a certain connection to them. At the end of the novel, David has aged much more than the three months that have gone by. He is now a solitary old man who spends his time with unwanted dogs and has no chance of ever attracting young women again.