A Vicious Circle
- When Miggery (or "Mig") goes to work for the man that her father has sold her to, she calls her new master "Uncle."
- Uncle makes Mig clean up after him every day, and forces her to tend to his sheep and cook for him. Whenever things aren't to his liking, he gives her a "clout to the ear"—or a beating.
- Because he's always hitting her ears, Mig's ears start to resemble cauliflower growing out of her head; they're so big and swollen.
- Her hearing gets worse and worse too, which means that she doesn't follow or understand the directions that Uncle gives her…which just leads to more clouts to her ears. It's a pretty vicious cycle.