 The Narrator sits in his library telling us the story of Al Norm who receives a pig a day too early, and not dead as he ordered. The Harbinger of Doom, tries to warn Al of the Japanese curse from the pig, but eventually finds himself lacking the ability to do just that when he is fatigued by the severe effort to swim to Al s aid. Meanwhile, Kerk, the friendly salesman, presents himself to Al, offering him the bounty of cripsbread and the gift of strength that follows, but is ensnared by the pig and it s Japanese curse. This plunge Al into a comatose dream, in which the pig reveals its true identity. Thinking Al can outsmart the pig, he escapes the nightmare, only now to find himself being the Harbinger of Doom, thus completing the cycle of the pig curse.