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The Midwife's Apprentice Chapter Summary & Analysis | Chapter One, The Dung Heap

This Study Guide consists of approximately 51 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Midwife's Apprentice.
This section contains 497 words
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Chapter One, The Dung Heap Summary

A girl of perhaps 12 or 13 burrows into a dung heap in order to keep warm. The girl, known only as 'Brat', has no family, though at one point she is sure she must have had a mother. Despite this, all the girl remembers is the life she lives now, with no warmth and no caring, surviving by taking what she can and working where she can before being driven away by villagers when she has overstayed her welcome.

The girl sleeps, but does not dream, since she has no hope or dreams, and wakes to hunger and cold. Boys from the village taunt her, calling her 'Dung Beetle' until a woman of average age and looks stops them and sends them away. The woman wonders if Brat is alive and when she sees that she is, sends her on her way. ...
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This section contains 497 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Purchase our The Midwife's Apprentice Study Guide
Copyrights
The Midwife's Apprentice from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.
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