Chapter One, The Dung Heap Summary

A girl of perhaps 12 or 13 burrows into a dung heap in order to keep warm. The girl, known only as 'Brat', has no family, though at one point she is sure she must have had a mother. Despite this, all the girl remembers is the life she lives now, with no warmth and no caring, surviving by taking what she can and working where she can before being driven away by villagers when she has overstayed her welcome.

The girl sleeps, but does not dream, since she has no hope or dreams, and wakes to hunger and cold. Boys from the village taunt her, calling her 'Dung Beetle' until a woman of average age and looks stops them and sends them away. The woman wonders if Brat is alive and when she sees that she...