Hoja and Narrator

"We heard she died of plague. Why haven't croaked as well? Without saying a word Hoja went down the stairs and left the house. As I followed him I heard the child shouting behind me and a women answering him: 'The lions were here, Mother!' 'No child, your uncle and his brother!'... p. 129


The quotation makes the situation in determining if Hoja and the narrator are in fact separate or the same person more difficult. The lion imagery is also another new motif that is brought up in this quote. It suggests that they are related by blood, however the narrator does not know the supposed family that they are interrupting for no apparent reason.