Eventually the family stops to rest. While they rest, a turnip-hoer speaks to them. From him, the family learns that there is no work and no housing available in Weydon-Priors; however, since it is Fair Day, there is some excitement in the village. The family goes to the fair-field, but ignores all the goings-on in favor of finding food. They decided to stop in a furmity tent, a place where they can buy some pudding. The man demands some liquor for his furmity, and drinks it lustily, ignoring his wife's pleas for lodging. Soon the man, who has been called Michael, complains loudly about his marriage and his poverty.
Outside, Michael hears an auction of horses, and he wonders why men can't sell their wives at auction. Some people inside the tent actually respond favorably to this question, and Michael openly offers his wife for sale (with the child as a bonus). Although the wife, named Susan, begs her husband not to do such a thing, Michael ignores her. A sailor soon speaks from the doorway. He will take Susan and Elizabeth-Jane (the child) for five pounds and five shillings--though he will not if Susan is unwilling. Susan sweeps out of the tent with Elizabeth-Jane and the sailor, cursing her husband.
As Michael drinks, the villagers wonder about the sailor and the woman's spirit. Michael says that he will never take his wife back, and begins to fall asleep in the tent. Eventually, the other villagers depart, leaving Michael there to sleep off his drunken state.
The next morning, the hay-trusser awakens, confused about his surroundings and about the events of the previous evenings. Upon discovering his wife's wedding-ring and the five guineas the sailor gave as payment, the man suddenly remembers the auction. He decides that he must find his wife and Elizabeth-Jane, and he leaves the furmity tent. As he walks from the deserted fair-field, he realizes that no one ever learned his name. Then he becomes angry that his simple-minded wife actually thought the auction was binding. Soon he returns to blaming himself and searching for his family.
Before he begins his investigation, the hay-trusser resolves to swear an oath: he will not drink any strong liquors for twenty-one years. He enters a nearby church, places his head upon the bible, and makes the oath. Then he begins looking for the woman and girl. Days, then weeks pass, and he gets no clues from anyone. Because he cannot explain why he is searching for his family (he is ashamed of his actions), his search is hampered. Eventually, he stops at a seaport. Three people that match his descriptions have left the country some time before. Discouraged, he gives up his search and heads for Casterbridge, a town in the southwestern part of Wessex.
Eighteen years later, a mother and daughter travel on the road to Weydon-Priors. They are the cast-off wife and daughter of long ago, Susan Henchard and Elizabeth-Jane. Susan remembers that this is where she met Newson the sailor, and the women mourn the man who is now lost at sea. Now they have returned to Weydon-Priors to find their lost "relative," Michael Henchard. Elizabeth-Jane does not know the real connection between Susan and Michael, and Susan wants to keep it that way.
The mother and daughter stop at the old furmity tent. Elizabeth-Jane tells her mother that it is not respectable to stop there, but Susan ignores her and goes inside. She is greeted by the old furmity seller, who says that she has seen better days in her business. Susan asks if she remembers the wife auction, and after a few moments of thought, the woman does remember. In fact, the husband returned to the tent a year later and said he lived in Casterbridge. Susan leaves the tent. She tells Elizabeth-Jane that they will go to Casterbridge, even though a lot of time has passed since Michael's last visit to Weydon-Priors.
Real Estate
