The odd ways in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.

After five years the narrator came back home. He found the grandmother at the station. She didn’t utter any words but clasped him in her arms. He could hear her reciting her prayers. But in the evening a change came over her. Her behaviour was quite odd. She didn’t pray. She collected the women of the neighbourhood. She got an old drum and started singing. For several hours she thumped the drum. She sang of the homecoming of warriors. She was very much excited. They had to persuade her to stop to avoid overstraining. That was the first time that she did not pray.

The next morning she was taken ill. It was a mild fever. But the grand old lady declared that her end was near. She was not going to waste any more time talking to them. She continued praying. They protested but she ignored their protests. She lay peacefully in bed praying and telling her beads. Her lips stopped moving. The rosary fell from her lifeless fingers. Her face turned pale. They knew she was dead. They lifted her off the bed and covered her with a shroud.

The grandmother behaved quite strangely just before she died. She was quite excited at the homecoming of her grandson. She tired herself and fell ill. She died while praying and telling her beads.