his money, he would have his clients sit down and begin talking. He allowed them to talk for ten minutes. By this time, they had told him enough information until he seemed to really be able to read their fortunes.

The astrologer used such a tactic to gather information from his clients. He would withdraw details from his clients. By the time they had talked to him for ten minutes or more, he had more than enough information to go on. The more the client talked, the more information the astrologer had to appear to predict his or her future.

Truly, the astrologer seemed to be for real. He had all the charts and fortune telling props that helped him appear to be an authentic astrologer. By the end of the day, he had gathered information from each client which provided him with details which made him appear to be a true astrologer. His common sense approach helped him gather the information he needed to appear to be for real. He knew which questions to ask:

He has a practical knowledge of the common problems of most people: “marriage, money, and the tangles of human ties.” His sharp eyes, used to scanning for customers, make people believe he has an unusual ability to tell people's fortunes.

Day after day, the astrologer managed to earn a living by telling his clients what they wanted to hear.

In the short story "An Astrologer's Day" by R. K. Narayan, a man who thinks he has committed murder leaves his home village, travels far away, and assumes the identity of an astrologer, even though he knows nothing about astrology. One day, the man the astrologer thought he had killed comes looking for him, and the astrologer is able to convince him to go home and search no more, not because he is a true astrologer but because he really knows who the man is.

As for the astrologer's other customers, Narayan explains that they are deceived by the astrologer's painted forehead, dark whiskers, saffron-colored turban, as well as his "professional equipment" such as "a dozen cowrie shells, a square piece of cloth with obscure mystic charts on it, a notebook and a bundle of palmyra writing." The astrologer sits beside a well-traveled path, and the gleam of his eyes gives him a mystic aura that his customers like. He knows nothing about astrology, but he has his customers talk about themselves, and he gives them advice that he supposes that they want to hear. Despite his deception, Narayan writes:

All the same, it was as much an honest man's labor as any other, and he deserved the wages he carried home at the end of a day.

The reason that Narayan writes that the astrologer earns honest wages is that he works at his occupation just as diligently as any other tradesperson. He does not steal or commit any other crimes. He puts in his working hours every day, and he gives his customers a certain type of value for the money they pay him. This is because most of the customers don't want profound spiritual insight; instead, they want reassurance of the opinions they have about themselves, and this the astrologer is able to provide for them. He also offers entertainment to his customers. As Narayan writes: "He said things which pleased and astonished everyone." They are "disposed to agree with him" and his answers "endeared him to their hearts."