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The Red Tent Part Two, Chapter One Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Time to talk about Dinah.
  • Dinah's mother and "mother-aunties" absolutely cherish her as a child.
  • Joseph, Rachel's son, is also Dinah's first and closest friend.
  • When they are just babies, Joseph helps Dinah stand for the first time, while Dinah helps Joseph talk. Daw, these two little ones are adorable.
  • Dinah notices that all of the children have formed mini-tribes, mostly separated by age.
  • Reuben, Simon, Levi, and Judah are much older and almost men by the time Dinah knows their names.
  • Judah is the nicest to Dinah, because he is the youngest out of the older boys. Simon and Levi are really mean and nasty, though.
  • Zebulun is the leader of the younger kids, and Dan is his "lieutenant."
  • Gad and Asher are playmates and also jokesters.
  • Eventually, Simon and Levi make fun of Dan and Zebulun for playing with Dinah and Joseph, so Dan and Zebulun try to act more manly, and they follow the older kids.
  • Dinah remembers how her mother has little patience with her inadequacies as a child, and one time she even slaps Dinah for throwing down her day's spinning.
  • Luckily, Dinah is reassured by Bilhah, who tells her a story about Uttu, a woman who taught other women how to turn wool into string and string into cloth.
  • After the story, Dinah becomes confident in her spinning.
  • Dinah then talks about the rivalries between the brothers.
  • Simon and Levi fight a lot. Zebulun and Judah do, too, but the fighting is over physical strength, and it's good-natured. Gad and Asher are embarrassed by their mother Zilpah's clumsiness. And Tali and Issa blame Leah for making them look identical.
  • Yeesh, talk about chaos.
  • Also, Laban has lost two of Jacob's favorite dogs—and then he loses Ruti in a gambling bet.
  • Uhh, that's not good.
  • Leah is able to convince Jacob to buy Ruti back, and he ends up losing a lot from buying her back. He is treated well over the next few weeks for his goodness.
  • Ruti also becomes indebted to Leah, and she sticks to Leah's side like gum on the wall.