Chapter 3 Summary

The Baudelaires' life with Count Olaf gets off to a bad start. The three children are forced to live in one room, with only one bed, and there is no crib for Sunny. Violet and Klaus take turns sleeping in the bed, and Sunny is forced to sleep on a lump of dirty curtains. The children rarely see Olaf, who seems to prefer leaving them with a pan of oatmeal in the morning and a long list of chores. He spends his time either away from the house or up in his tower, which they are forbidden to enter.

One day, however, Count Olaf leaves the children a note that he expects them to cook dinner for his entire theater troupe, which will be visiting that evening. Since the Baudelaire children do not know how to cook, they go over to Justice Strauss'...