Summary

The post-harvest celebration begins in the hamlet, while the male newcomers sit confined in the pillory outside with shaven heads. The narrator tells us that the pillory have not been used for many years, and that it serves as the "village cross" (34), because the community has not been able to pull together enough money and labor to build a church. Although pained to see the men imprisoned, the narrator decides as he heads toward the barn for the festivities that “it is unjust but sensible, I think, to let the pillory alone" (31). He notices, however, that the older and shorter man must stand on tiptoe to keep from being choked by the pillory's wood, and the narrator decides that, later in the night, he will bring him a log to stand on to make him more comfortable.

During the evening’s feast, Master Kent...