In Chap­ter XXVII of “Crome Yel­low,” Mr. Sco­gan trans­forms into “Sesostris, the Sor­cer­ess of Ecbatana,” con­duct­ing palm read­ings in a whim­si­cal, witch-like man­ner, dressed in a vibrant cos­tume. His omi­nous pre­dic­tions and dra­mat­ic flair cap­ti­vate vis­i­tors at a fair, prompt­ing both intrigue and skep­ti­cism among the guests, includ­ing Denis. Mean­while, Denis observes the scene from a hid­den van­tage point, using the oppor­tu­ni­ty to spy on the sor­cer­ess’ deal­ings. The sor­cer­ess’ fore­casts vary from dire warn­ings to vague prophe­cies about future love and uncer­tain­ties, elic­it­ing mixed reac­tions of gig­gles and con­cern from the clients.

Sub­se­quent­ly, the nar­ra­tive shifts to a descrip­tion of the car­ni­val-like atmos­phere around the event, with var­i­ous activ­i­ties and sights, includ­ing races and per­for­mances. Denis, wan­der­ing through the fes­tiv­i­ties, inter­acts with Mrs. Budge, who shares her war-time efforts col­lect­ing peach stones for the gov­ern­ment, reveal­ing a quirky char­ac­ter detail. Their con­ver­sa­tion reflects on the enjoy­ment derived from the sim­ple plea­sures of the fair, against the back­drop of soci­etal and per­son­al his­to­ries.

The chap­ter then clos­es with Denis reflect­ing on a poem he had writ­ten, cap­tur­ing the essence of the fair day—contrasting joy and under­ly­ing soci­etal cri­tiques. He mus­es over the broad­er impli­ca­tions of free­dom, joy, and soci­etal con­straints, encap­su­lat­ed in the metaphor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance of the fair and per­son­al inter­ac­tions, includ­ing his chance encounter with Mr. and Mrs. Bod­i­ham, who express dis­gust at the swim­mers, adding a more somber tone to the chap­ter’s con­tem­pla­tions on leisure and free­dom.

Through this mix of whim­sy, per­son­al inter­ac­tions, and reflec­tive insights, Chap­ter XXVII offers a vivid snap­shot of the fair’s mul­ti­fac­eted expe­ri­ences against the back­drop of Crome’s soci­etal micro­cosm, inter­weav­ing themes of free­dom, judg­ment, and the pur­suit of hap­pi­ness.