CHAPTER TWO

Disaster on the Road

That night at eleven o'clock, all the family at last went to bed. John Durbeyfield had to be up at two o'clock the next morning to deliver beehives to the Saturday market in Casterbridge. The journey would be long, at least 20 or 30 miles on bad roads.

Just before two, Mrs Durbeyfield woke Tess up. She whispered, "Your father can't go."

"But he is late already," Tess replied. "The bees must be delivered today. If little Abraham comes with me, maybe I can go."

Tess and Abraham loaded the wagon. They left in the dark with the family horse Prince. They tried to stay happy.

After much silence, Abraham asked, "Tess, are you glad that we're a noble family?"

"Not really," admitted Tess.

"But you must be happy that our noble family will come and help you marry a gentleman," said her brother.

Tess was very surprised.

"What would make you think that?" she asked.

"I heard our parents talk about it. A rich lady from the d'Urberville family lives in Trantridge. Mother said she would help you find a gentleman of a husband if you told her you were a relative," said Abraham.

Tess became silent, but her brother did not notice. He talked about the stars and different kinds of worlds in the universe. When he asked Tess if the star they lived on was good or bad, Tess frowned and said that it was bad.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because if we lived in a good world father would be healthy and mother would not have to work all of the time. Our family would not have to struggle all of the time," Tess replied as though in a dream.

Abraham finally fell asleep and Tess drove on. She imagined her father—drunk, foolish and proud—being laughed at by the rich gentleman her mother wanted her to marry. All of a sudden, a loud noise and violent movement woke her from her dream. She climbed from the carriage and made a terrible discovery. Another carriage driving too fast on the dark road had hit her slow and light carriage and badly hurt the horse.

"You were on the wrong side of the road," said the man in the other carriage. "I must still deliver the mail, but I will send for someone to help you. Stay here and guard your things."

Tess began to cry as the sun came up. Prince the horse lay on the ground about to die.

"It's my fault," she cried. "Abraham, wake up. There has been an accident. We can't deliver the beehives because Prince is dead. Now we'll have no money."

Abraham tried not to cry. "It's because we live on a bad star," he said through his tears.

A man came to deliver the beehives to Casterbridge, and then collect the horse's body. When they all returned to the Durbeyfield house, Tess told her parents the horrible news. They were not angry. However, when Mr Durbeyfield heard that he would only get a few pennies for Prince's body, he became upset.

"The noble d'Urberville family does not sell its horse for cat's meat!" he shouted. And the next day he worked harder than ever to bury Prince. Everyone but Tess cried. Tess' eyes were dry and her face was pale. She believed she had murdered a friend.

After the accident, life became even harder for the Durbeyfields. Without their horse, they had to carry their loads, and John Durbeyfield had to do less business than before. John had never been a hard worker, and now he liked working even less. Tess wanted very badly to help her parents, but did not know how. One day, her mother had an idea.

"Tess, we should take advantage of the news of our noble family," said her mother. "There is a very rich woman named Mrs d'Urberville who lives on the other side of the wood. She must be a relative. You should visit her and explain that you are also a d'Urberville. Then you can ask her for help."

"I don't want to do that," said Tess. "We can't expect her to help us. She doesn't know us, even if we are all members of the same family."

"Tess dear, you could persuade anyone. And who knows? Some other good thing might happen," her mother said with a wise smile.

Tess' father did not like the idea, either. "My children do not have to beg for help," he said proudly.

The more Tess thought about it, the less she liked her father's reasons for not going to Mrs d'Urberville's house. "I killed the horse," she said. "So I should go. But I am not going because I want a husband."

"Of course not dear," said her mother innocently.

For her whole life, the Vale of Blackmoor had been Tess' only world. But the next day she walked to Shaston, a strange town, and took a ride to Trantridge. Her only knowledge of the world came from her school lessons. Sadly, Tess was forced to leave school a few years early so that she could find a job and earn money for her family. She had milked cows and made butter. She became angry with her mother for having too many children, since Joan Durbeyfield acted like a child herself. Her parents never thought about the future. Only Tess worried about her younger brothers and sisters. So naturally it was up to Tess to approach the d'Urberville family.

(end of section)