Summary

In Chapter 9, Dirk is 8 years old and is big enough to help in the fields. Selina insists that he continue to attend school. Pervus was in charge of a farm by the time he was 15 but Selina insists that Dirk won't become a farmer. Selina is 30 by this time. She has become a true farmer's wife, just as Maartje Pool had been. She wears ragged clothes. Her skin and hair look older than she is. Despite the harsh life, she continues to show signs of the fun-loving, high-spirited courage of her youth. She has expended a great deal of energy to make a few changes on the farm. She suggests they plant asparagus. It takes three years for asparagus roots to produce a crop but Selina thinks it's worth the investment. Pervus discounts it as foolish. Pervus sometimes gives in because it is...