Part 4
The story turns back once more, to a girl who says “Gor!” when the world surprises her — and the world has never been kind enough to surprise her much. Miggery Sow, named after her father’s prize pig, loses her mother young; soon after, her father sells her — for a red tablecloth, a hen, and a handful of cigarettes — to a man she must call Uncle, who pays her in clouts to the ear until her ears bloom like cauliflowers and she is half deaf. She tends his sheep, eats little, is given nothing. Then one day a royal procession glitters past the hill: King Phillip, Queen Rosemary — and little Princess Pea on a white horse, waving. Something wakes in Mig that no clout can kill: a wish. I want to be that princess. Years later, the king’s soldiers — out collecting the kingdom’s outlawed kettles and spoons — discover that Uncle keeps a girl he bought, and owning people is illegal: Mig, twelve now, is taken to the castle and made a servant. She is slow, half-deaf, laughed at, and hopeless at every chore — until she is handed the one job nobody wants: carrying the jailer’s tray down into the dungeon’s dark, where something with a silky voice is waiting to learn what a girl like Mig yearns for.
| Section | What you will practice |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary | Words of a hard childhood: clout, deaf, tend, procession, illegal, yearn… |
| Literary Elements | The braided structure, a character’s voice (‘Gor!’), and the wish motif |
| Cross-Curricular | What castle servants’ lives were like, and why wishes survive hard years |
| Ch. | What happens |
|---|---|
| 24–26 | Sold — Mig loses her mother, is sold by her father for a tablecloth, a hen, and cigarettes, and learns the meaning of clouts. |
| 27–28 | The Procession — the royal family glitters past; a wish is born: I want to be that princess. |
| 29–31 | Freed — and Hired — soldiers collecting outlawed kettles discover the bought girl; owning people is illegal; Mig goes to the castle. |
| 32–33 | The Tray — hopeless at every chore, Mig is given the dungeon delivery — where a silky voice waits. |
ⓘ The vocabulary words in this list are selected to help you understand and complete this workbook. Some may not appear verbatim in the original novel.
- Sold to Uncle, Mig is paid in clouts and tends sheep.
- Hopeless at chores, Mig is handed the dungeon tray.
- Mig loses her mother and is left with her father.
- The royal procession passes; the wish is born.
- Soldiers find the bought girl and take her to the castle.
Think back over the girl’s tale. A mother’s deathbed, and nothing inherited. A father counting out a tablecloth, a hen, and cigarettes. Years of clouts on a cold hill, ears blooming shut. Then one glittering procession — a girl her own age on a white horse, waving — and a wish taking root where nothing else was allowed to grow. Freedom arrives wearing a soldier’s boots; the castle arrives with laughter and chores; and the dark stairs arrive last, with a tray, and a voice at the bottom that has been waiting for exactly this girl.
A castle’s glitter was worked for below stairs. A great household, meaning the whole community of a castle, family and staff together, ran on the labor of every servant in it: cooks and bakers, scullery girls scouring pots with sand, serving maids hauling trays up spiral stairs, boys turning roasting-spits by the fire. Many were children of ten or twelve, sent by poor families to earn their keep, and their work began before dawn and ended long after the great hall had gone quiet. Their pay was mostly board, meals and a sleeping corner, with a few coins a year if fortune smiled.
Rank ruled the world below stairs as strictly as above. The cook commanded the kitchen like a general; older maids claimed the lighter chores; and the newest, youngest, or clumsiest girl inherited whatever no one else would touch, the coldest water, the heaviest tray, the errand down the darkest stair. It was a hard ladder, but it was a ladder: a serving girl who learned quickly could rise. One who could not, who broke plates and misheard orders, slid instead toward the jobs at the very bottom, where the castle kept its shadows.
“That is how a castle’s worst errand always found its way to its newest girl.”
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 4 “The Wish on the Hill”
Mig’s whole life turns on one glittering minute. Write the scene from her eyes: the sheep, the cold, the sound of hooves, the girl on the white horse — and the exact moment the wish takes root. End with her one sentence. Write at least 40 words.
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby what happened in this part. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 4 Complete!
You finished Chapters 24–33 · Book the Third of The Tale of Despereaux.
Here are your auto-graded results:
The best last step is to teach it. In your own words, explain what happened — retell a favorite scene, teach a character’s big choice, or sum up the main idea for a parent, friend, or classmate. When you can teach it clearly, you truly own it.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Kate DiCamillo. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced. Reference text: This workbook follows Kate DiCamillo’s classic text (the standard Puffin edition sold worldwide). Revised 2023 UK editions change some wording and may not match the vocabulary studied here.