Chapter 52

Synopsis of chapter 52

The family pile all their possessions on to a cart on Old Lady Day, and with many other people, set off to their new home. On the way, Tess meets Izz Huet and Marian and brings them up to date with what has been happening.

Horse and cart When the family get to Kingsbere, they find that in fact there is no accommodation for them. Their letter booking the rooms had arrived too late and the rooms had been let out to someone else. The carter insists on unloading their furniture, which they do outside the church where the old d'Urberville vault is located. They search for new accommodation without success until Joan has the idea the family vault belongs to them and that they can squat there.

In the meanwhile, Alec discovers Tess in the church and pretends to be one of the ancestral effigies. He again makes the offer of a cottage to them. Tess refuses, but Alec says he will go to find Joan to make her the offer. Izz and Marian discuss Tess' situation. They are so concerned that they write an anonymous note to Angel, addressing it to his father's vicarage.

Commentary on chapter 52

Tess has now reached the state of homelessness in the family's fall, ironically outside the family's ancestral vault, created when they were at their height. Alec's cruel trick only reinforces the cruel tricks of fortune, as well as his trick of claiming to be a d'Urberville. The association with the ancient family has literally led them to a place of death.

The two friends realise Tess's one remaining choice, not to give in to Alec, will soon be taken from her, hence their letter to Angel. However, it would seem to be one more letter destined either not to arrive or to arrive too late. The chapter is the last one in Phase the Sixth.

the hexagon to the bee: bees build their honeycombs using hexagon cells. Hardy uses this same image in his essay The Dorsetshire Labourer.

Ark of the Covenant: This casket was considered the most sacred object in the Israelite worship of the Old Testament. When it was first made (Exodus 25:8-20) it was carried by priests through the wilderness till they reached the Promised Land. It represented the presence of God in their midst as it held the Ten Commandments.

your family vault your own freehold: in the past rich families would have created for themselves a vault under the parish church of which they were patrons, for their future burial. Joan's idea is that such vaults actually belong to the family and, therefore, they have a right to live there.

like martin holes in a sand-cliff: Sand-martins, a type of swallow, make little holes in sandy cliffs in which to nest.

Ostium sepulchri antiquae familiae D'Urberville: the Latin translates as ‘the entrance of the sepulchre of the ancient family d'Urberville'.

The old order changeth: a quotation from Tennyson's poem Morte d'Arthur l.240

their land of Canaan: in the Old Testament, the Promised Land of Israel was often referred to by its older name of Canaan (e.g. Leviticus 14:34).

Place

Kingsbere (Bere Regis) lies some fifteen miles due south of Marlott (Marnhull), over slow upland country roads. The horses would not have gone more than three miles an hour. Bere Regis still lies on the edge of Bloxworth Heath, part of what Hardy called Egdon Heath or just The Heath.

Greenhill: Woodbury Hill, half a mile east of Bere Regis

Vocabulary

bait: give food and drink here, whilst on the road

deparked: changed from being a (deer) park. The former d'Urberville estates had been portioned off and sold at some stage.

matrices: natural material in which something is embedded

stale: urine (usually of animals)

superincumbent: lying or resting on something else

tole: entice, draw away

Investigating chapter 52

Look at the two letters mentioned in the chapter.
- In what way do they fit into the pattern of previous letters?
The family has returned to their ancestral home, completing a process that began in Ch 1.
- What do they find when they get there?
- In what way is this fall in circumstance centered on Tess?
What does Tess mean when she cries, 'Why am I on the wrong side of this door!'
If Alec represents the new and the modern, what does Hardy seem to be saying about that?
What to you seems the most tragic element or episode of the whole chapter?
The name of this phase, 'The Convert', suggests it has been largely about Alec.
- Summarise the main features of his progress (or regress).
- How has this affected Tess?
- Would you say Alec is on a pilgrimage, or are his actions more like those of a raiding party?

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹The Lord said to Moses, ²Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. ³And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁴blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats' hair, ⁵tanned rams' skins, goatskins, acacia wood, ⁶oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, ⁷onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. ⁸And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. ⁹Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. ¹⁰They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. ¹²You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. ¹⁵The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you. ¹⁷You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ¹⁸And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. ²⁰The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. ²¹And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. ²²There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. ²³You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ²⁴You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. ²⁵And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. ²⁶And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ²⁷Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders for the poles to carry the table. ²⁸You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. ²⁹And you shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. ³⁰And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly. ³¹You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. ³²And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; ³³three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch - so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ³⁴And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, ³⁵and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand. ³⁶Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. ³⁷You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. ³⁸Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. ³⁹It shall be made, with all these utensils, out of a talent of pure gold. ⁴⁰And see that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain.

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ²Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering. ³And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass, ⁴And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, ⁵And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, ⁶Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, ⁷Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate. ⁸And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. ⁹According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. ¹⁰And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. ¹¹And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. ¹²And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. ¹³And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. ¹⁵The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. ¹⁷And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. ¹⁸And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubim on the two ends thereof. ²⁰And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. ²¹And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. ²²And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. ²³Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. ²⁴And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. ²⁵And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. ²⁶And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. ²⁷Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. ²⁸And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. ²⁹And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them. ³⁰And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me always. ³¹And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. ³²And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: ³³Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. ³⁴And in the candlesticks shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. ³⁵And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. ³⁶Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. ³⁷And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. ³⁸And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. ³⁹Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. ⁴⁰And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²This shall be the law of the leprous person for the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest, ³and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall look. Then, if the case of leprous disease is healed in the leprous person, ⁴the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop. ⁵And the priest shall command them to kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water. ⁶He shall take the live bird with the cedarwood and the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, and dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water. ⁷And he shall sprinkle it seven times on him who is to be cleansed of the leprous disease. Then he shall pronounce him clean and shall let the living bird go into the open field. ⁸And he who is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes and shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water, and he shall be clean. And after that he may come into the camp, but live outside his tent seven days. ⁹And on the seventh day he shall shave off all his hair from his head, his beard, and his eyebrows. He shall shave off all his hair, and then he shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and he shall be clean. ¹⁰And on the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish, and a grain offering of three tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and one log of oil. ¹¹And the priest who cleanses him shall set the man who is to be cleansed and these things before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ¹²And the priest shall take one of the male lambs and offer it for a guilt offering, along with the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ¹³And he shall kill the lamb in the place where they kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the place of the sanctuary. For the guilt offering, like the sin offering, belongs to the priest; it is most holy. ¹⁴The priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵Then the priest shall take some of the log of oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand ¹⁶and dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle some oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷And some of the oil that remains in his hand the priest shall put on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. Then the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord. ¹⁹The priest shall offer the sin offering, to make atonement for him who is to be cleansed from his uncleanness. And afterward he shall kill the burnt offering. ²⁰And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he shall be clean. ²¹But if he is poor and cannot afford so much, then he shall take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him, and a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, and a log of oil; ²²also two turtledoves or two pigeons, whichever he can afford. The one shall be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. ²³And on the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, before the Lord. ²⁴And the priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵And he shall kill the lamb of the guilt offering. And the priest shall take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶And the priest shall pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷and shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the Lord. ²⁸And the priest shall put some of the oil that is in his hand on the lobe of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot, in the place where the blood of the guilt offering was put. ²⁹And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed, to make atonement for him before the Lord. ³⁰And he shall offer, of the turtledoves or pigeons, whichever he can afford, ³¹one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, along with a grain offering. And the priest shall make atonement before the Lord for him who is being cleansed. ³²This is the law for him in whom is a case of leprous disease, who cannot afford the offerings for his cleansing. ³³The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ³⁴When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, ³⁵then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest, There seems to me to be some case of disease in my house. ³⁶Then the priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean. And afterward the priest shall go in to see the house. ³⁷And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, ³⁸then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days. ³⁹And the priest shall come again on the seventh day, and look. If the disease has spread in the walls of the house, ⁴⁰then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around, and the plaster that they scrape off they shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. ⁴²Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones, and he shall take other plaster and plaster the house. ⁴³If the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, ⁴⁴then the priest shall go and look. And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprous disease in the house; it is unclean. ⁴⁵And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶Moreover, whoever enters the house while it is shut up shall be unclean until the evening, ⁴⁷and whoever sleeps in the house shall wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house shall wash his clothes. ⁴⁸But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed. ⁴⁹And for the cleansing of the house he shall take two small birds, with cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop, ⁵⁰and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water ⁵¹and shall take the cedarwood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵²Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn. ⁵³And he shall let the live bird go out of the city into the open country. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it shall be clean. ⁵⁴This is the law for any case of leprous disease: for an itch, ⁵⁵for leprous disease in a garment or in a house, ⁵⁶and for a swelling or an eruption or a spot, ⁵⁷to show when it is unclean and when it is clean. This is the law for leprous disease.

¹And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ²This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: ³And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper; ⁴Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: ⁵And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: ⁶As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: ⁷And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field. ⁸And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. ⁹But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean. ¹⁰And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil. ¹¹And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: ¹²And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: ¹³And he shall slay the lamb in the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the sin offering is the priest's, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy: ¹⁴And the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: ¹⁵And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand: ¹⁶And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD: ¹⁷And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass offering: ¹⁸And the remnant of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall pour upon the head of him that is to be cleansed: and the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD. ¹⁹And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering: ²⁰And the priest shall offer the burnt offering and the meat offering upon the altar: and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and he shall be clean. ²¹And if he be poor, and cannot get so much; then he shall take one lamb for a trespass offering to be waved, to make an atonement for him, and one tenth deal of fine flour mingled with oil for a meat offering, and a log of oil; ²²And two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, such as he is able to get; and the one shall be a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering. ²³And he shall bring them on the eighth day for his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the LORD. ²⁴And the priest shall take the lamb of the trespass offering, and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: ²⁵And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot: ²⁶And the priest shall pour of the oil into the palm of his own left hand: ²⁷And the priest shall sprinkle with his right finger some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before the LORD: ²⁸And the priest shall put of the oil that is in his hand upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the place of the blood of the trespass offering: ²⁹And the rest of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, to make an atonement for him before the LORD. ³⁰And he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, or of the young pigeons, such as he can get; ³¹Even such as he is able to get, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, with the meat offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed before the LORD. ³²This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing. ³³And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, ³⁴When ye be come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house of the land of your possession; ³⁵And he that owneth the house shall come and tell the priest, saying, It seemeth to me there is as it were a plague in the house: ³⁶Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: ³⁷And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; ³⁸Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days: ³⁹And the priest shall come again the seventh day, and shall look: and, behold, if the plague be spread in the walls of the house; ⁴⁰Then the priest shall command that they take away the stones in which the plague is, and they shall cast them into an unclean place without the city: ⁴¹And he shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place: ⁴²And they shall take other stones, and put them in the place of those stones; and he shall take other mortar, and shall plaster the house. ⁴³And if the plague come again, and break out in the house, after that he hath taken away the stones, and after he hath scraped the house, and after it is plastered; ⁴⁴Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in the house; it is unclean. ⁴⁵And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and the timber thereof, and all the mortar of the house; and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean place. ⁴⁶Moreover he that goeth into the house all the while that it is shut up shall be unclean until the even. ⁴⁷And he that lieth in the house shall wash his clothes; and he that eateth in the house shall wash his clothes. ⁴⁸And if the priest shall come in, and look upon it, and, behold, the plague hath not spread in the house, after the house was plastered: then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, because the plague is healed. ⁴⁹And he shall take to cleanse the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: ⁵⁰And he shall kill the one of the birds in an earthen vessel over running water: ⁵¹And he shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird, and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times: ⁵²And he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the running water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet: ⁵³But he shall let go the living bird out of the city into the open fields, and make an atonement for the house: and it shall be clean. ⁵⁴This is the law for all manner of plague of leprosy, and scall, ⁵⁵And for the leprosy of a garment, and of a house, ⁵⁶And for a rising, and for a scab, and for a bright spot: ⁵⁷To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy.

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Tess of the d'Urbervilles Contents