That night the narrator asks Zorba how many times he’s been married. Zorba answers that he’s had one honest marriage but thousands of dishonest ones. The narrator asks Zorba to speak of them, and Zorba mentions keeping track of the women he’s slept with by saving locks of their hair. He abandons this endeavor when there are too many. When the narrator prompts him about his half-honest marriages, Zorba gives an account of two relationships.

The first is with a Russian peasant woman, Sophinka, who he met at the market. He followed her home after paying for her bread and smoked fish. Zorba didn’t speak Russian then, and Sophinka lived with an elderly woman. The elderly woman did not object to Zorba spending the night with Sophinka or staying with her for three months. After he left, Zorba met another Russian woman, Nousa. Now knowing more Russian, Zorba talked to her and they reached an agreement. He was welcomed by her family, which threw a party in their honor. After Nousa’s father and Zorba made speeches, the lights were turned off and the women cried out and then started giggling. In the dark, Zorba couldn’t find Nousa and slept with someone else.