In the beginning,a girl named Miggery Sow is born even before Roscuro and Despereaux, and when she is six years old, her mother dies. Soon after, Miggery 's father sells her for a handful of cigarettes, a red tablecloth, and a hen. Even though Miggery Sow begs her father not to sell her off, he remains unmoved and says that she has to go with the man to whom he 's sold his only daughter.
When Miggery (or "Mig") goes to work for the man that her father has sold her to, she calls her new master "Uncle." Uncle makes Mig clean up after him every day, and forces her to tend to his sheep and cook for him. Whenever things aren 't to his liking, he gives her a "clout to the ear“.
Because he 's always hitting her ears, Mig 's ears start to resemble