"Go and get two blaze lanterns from the teahouse veranda and fill them for me."
The main job of the narrator's father is to explore new sources of water, and that is his talent. The reader learns that no other person in the village has the power to discover new sources of water. However, exploring these new sources is difficult because it involves working till night hours. Therefore, the narrator’s father must always walk with his lanterns to ensure that he has sufficient light at night when he is still working.
"You are seventeen and of age now and, therefore, old enough to understand what I am going to tell you."
The narrator's father is optimistic that she will take after him and proceed with the good work he is doing. Therefore, when she comes of age, the father decides to take her deeper into the mysteries of the secret waters. The father shares his tactics with her daughter and asks her not to tell any other person. The narrator promises to keep the secret and, more importantly, work harder to keep the environment safe.
“I wish I could dig to the bottom. Perhaps I'd understand the past world and the people who threw all this away."
The narrator uses this quote metaphorically when responding to Sanja about her curiosity to get to know more about the world. Sanja is not aware that the narrator is very ambitious to discover everything after her father introduces her to the mysteries of the secret waters introduced her. The narrator’s response prompted Sanja to reexamine her interests in the history of dynamic people who used machinery to execute their daily activities.
