But Pinkerton when he sailed away had said that he would be back "when the robins nest again," and that suffices Cio-Cio-San.

But when Sharpless comes with a letter to break the news that his friend is coming back with an American wife, he loses courage to perform his mission at the contemplation of the little woman's faith in the truant.

Does he know when the robins nest in America?
In Japan they had nested three times since Pinkerton went away.

The consul quails at that and damns his friend as a scoundrel.

Now Goro, who knows Butterfly's pecuniary plight, brings Yamadori to her.