The Tale of Despereaux

The man who bought Mig forces her to do chores between random clouts to the ears. After years of abuse, Mig’s ears resemble cauliflowers, and her hearing is poor. The less she understands, the more mistakes she makes and the more clouts she receives.

On Mig’s seventh birthday, she sees Princess Pea, “glittering and glowing on the horizon” (131) in a royal procession moving by her farm home. Mig is so stunned by the show of beauty and the opulence that she doesn’t even notice Pea wave. For the first time, Mig experiences hope, like “a small candle had been lit in her interior” (134).

That night, Mig shares her experience seeing the royal procession—and her desire to be a princess—with her “Uncle.” He laughs at the thought of Mig in a crown and regrets trading his hen for her. Uncle asks Mig if she wants a clout to the ear and she declines, but she receives one anyway. Uncle swears off any more talk of princesses, because no one wants to hear what Mig wants.

Years pass and Mig continues to live in indentured servitude, cleaning and receiving clouts to the ears. When the king outlaws soup, soldiers arrive to seize the kingdom’s kettles. Uncle lets slip that he owns a girl, and a soldier seizes her as well (as owning humans is against the law). Since Mig’s parents are dead, she is taken to the castle to become a paid servant. She is thrilled that she is one step closer to being a princess.

Mig feels lucky that on her first day as a servant, she is to deliver a spool of red thread to the princess herself (for her tapestry). Being clumsy, Mig attempts to curtsy and slips on the spool, crashing to the ground. Pea laughs but not in a mocking way. The two girls connect over their deceased mothers and their both being 12 years old. Mig excitedly explains her goal of becoming a princess, and Pea does not disagree—though she gives the other girl a “quick, deep look” (150). A maid chastises Mig for taking so long, saying “You are not destined to be one of our star servants” (151). Mig reasserts her goal, but the maid merely laughs in disbelief.

For the first time in her life, Mig has enough to eat, and so she grows plump. She struggles with every domestic task assigned to her, from that of lady-in-waiting to chambermaid to cook’s assistant. Out of desperation, the staff assigns Mig to take Gregory’s meals to the dungeon. On the day of Despereaux’s punishment, Mig descends the stairs with a tray of food for the jailer.

Mig bellows a made-up song to keep herself company in the darkness, and Roscuro falls into step with her. The dungeon is filled with unnerving sounds, but since Mig is nearly deaf, she does not hear anything that makes her afraid. She comes across a giant pile of dirty dishes and cutlery before hearing the jailer’s voice in the distance.

Gregory receives his food from Mig but sounds disappointed that it’s not soup. Mig tells Gregory that she wishes to one day be a princess. Roscuro jumps for joy in the shadows, knowing that he can use this to manipulate the girl—but the jailer notices him. He tells Mig that her dream is foolish, but everyone has to believe in a foolish dream, like soup being made legal again. After eating, he sends Mig up with the tray and warns her of the rats. Roscuro plans to bite through Gregory’s rope as the next stage in his revenge plot.

Just before Mig leaves the dungeon, Roscuro speaks to her. He tempts her with undefined “aspirations,” promising to make Mig a princess if she follows his plan. Neither of them notice, however, that Despereaux escaped by hiding in the napkin on Gregory’s lunch tray and overheard the entire revenge plot.