Nang, Jackson's foreman, picks Nick up at the airport in Rangoon after many long hours of travel. He and Nang's quiet daughter, Mya, drive for three days into the Burmese jungle to Hawk's Nest, the plantation house. They also have a new elephant named Miss Pretty on board, riding in the back of the flatbed truck. As they drive, Nang talks about Nick's birth, his parents’ divorce, and the reason for Nick's name—his father was two days late to Nick's birth because he was capturing an elephant named Hannibal deep in the jungle. Nick shares a memory of his first elephant ride: It was on Christmas Day when he was five years old. Weeks later, Nick caught pneumonia, his mother blamed his father, and Nick and his mother returned to America to treat his illness. Nick's mother never came back, and since that day in 1933, Nick has dreamed of returning to Burma. Despite being British on his father's side, Nick “had a hard time fitting in [in London] [...] He was ‘A Yank adrift in a sea of Brits’ as Bernard put it” (9). Jackson sent Nick letters and books throughout his childhood, and Nick always assumed he would eventually take over the family plantation. When Nick arrives at Hawk's Nest after the long journey, he is disappointed to learn that his father is away on business. 

Mya narrates this chapter. After dropping Nick off at Hawk's Nest, she and her father return to the village. Some men sit around a campfire and talk; Nang stops Mya and tells her to wait in the shadows to listen. Magwe is talking to other mahouts about bombings in Rangoon and the instability of Burma. He claims the Japanese have come to liberate Burma from the British, and Nang, Mya, and Freestone are planning to attack Japanese soldiers. He doubts Freestone will bring his young son to Burma, given the instability of the country. Mya reveals the long-standing grudge Magwe has against Nang, as the two competed for the role of foreman. Nang eventually appears at the end of the fire and asks the mahouts about the elephants in their care. He corrects Magwe, saying he saw no bombs in Rangoon and that “Mr. Freestone also believes Burma should be an independent country, governed by its own people. He has been quietly working on this for many years” (18). Magwe tells Nang about a meeting in the morning to discuss the Japanese soldiers nearby. Nang sends everyone to bed. 

Nick wakes up in Hawk's Nest, his family plantation home in Burma. His father greets him, helping him rescue a lizard that fell from a mosquito net. His father also gives him the family knife that has a carved ivory handle. Jackson then tells Nick he must leave on a covert mission with Nang's son, Indaw. Nick is jealous of Indaw, who is around his age, because he wants to go with his father, too. Before he leaves, Jackson warns him, “You may hear some rumors when you get to the village. Don't be alarmed” (25); he is talking about the Japanese bombings in Rangoon. Nick explores the house, remembering his childhood there and finding many preserved mementos. He finds books about the Japanese, and Nick realizes that “his father had been preparing for the Japanese for some time” (30). The house is oddly silent. Nick eats some breakfast, kept warm for him by servants who seem to have disappeared, and leaves the house to find someone to talk to in the village.