The Vile Village facts for kids
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| Author | Lemony Snicket (pen name of Daniel Handler) |
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| Illustrator | Brett Helquist |
| Cover artist | Brett Helquist |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | A Series of Unfortunate Events |
| Genre | Gothic fiction Absurdist fiction Mystery |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
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Publication date
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May 2001 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 256 |
| ISBN | 978-0-06-440865-3 |
| Preceded by | The Ersatz Elevator |
| Followed by | The Hostile Hospital |
The Vile Village is the seventh book in the popular A Series of Unfortunate Events collection. This series was written by Lemony Snicket, which is the pen name for American author Daniel Handler. The books tell the exciting and often sad story of three orphans: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. After their parents tragically pass away, the children are sent to live with their distant relative, Count Olaf. However, Olaf is a very bad man who only wants to steal their large family fortune.
Once the children are taken away from Olaf's care, he starts to chase them relentlessly. He causes many problems and dangers for the orphans. In The Vile Village, the Baudelaire children are placed in the care of an entire town. But this town has many strict rules and endless chores. They also find that Count Olaf and his evil girlfriend are hiding nearby. This book is a major turning point in the series. It changes how the stories usually work.
- The Baudelaire children can no longer ask Mr. Poe for help. He was their parents' estate executor.
- The children are now seen as "criminals" by the authorities.
- They will not be given any more legal guardians after this book.
- Because the police are now focused on the Baudelaires, Count Olaf doesn't need to use disguises as much.
Contents
What Happens in The Vile Village?
The Baudelaires Find a New Home
The story begins with the Baudelaire orphans waiting for a new guardian. Mr. Poe, who handles their parents' money, tells them about a new program. This program allows an entire village to act as a guardian for children. It is based on the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." The children choose a village called V.F.D. They remember this abbreviation from Duncan and Isadora Quagmire. The Quagmires were kidnapped by Count Olaf before they could explain what V.F.D. meant.
The children travel to the unknown V.F.D. by bus. After a long, hot walk, they arrive at the town. It is filled with many crows. They meet the Council of Elders, who are the town's leaders. The Council tells the children they must do all the chores for the whole village. They will live with Hector, the town's handyman.
Life with Hector and the Nevermore Tree
Hector takes the Baudelaires to his home. He shows them his house, the barn, and the Nevermore Tree. This tree is where all the crows sleep at night. The Baudelaires learn that V.F.D. stands for the Village of Fowl Devotees. Hector shows them a short poem, called a couplet. He says it was found at the bottom of the Nevermore Tree: For sapphires we are held in here, Only you can end our fear.
The Baudelaires soon discover that Hector has been breaking the town's many strict rules. He has a secret library and is building a hot-air mobile home in his barn. He plans to use it to fly away forever. The children wonder if the poem is a message from the Quagmires. They find another couplet under the tree, even though they watched it all night: Until dawn comes we cannot speak, No words can come from this sad beak.
Count Olaf's New Plan
Three members of the Council of Elders arrive. They announce that Count Olaf has been caught. The Baudelaires must go to the Town Hall right away. But when they get there, they find it's not Count Olaf. It's a man named Jacques Snicket. He has a unibrow and an eye tattoo, just like Olaf. The children insist he is not Olaf, but the townspeople ignore them. Jacques is set to be burned at the stake the next day.
That night, the orphans make a plan. Sunny watches the Nevermore Tree to see where the poems are coming from. Klaus searches the V.F.D. rules for a way to help Jacques. Violet works on Hector's hot-air balloon. She thinks it will be a good way to escape if Olaf comes after them. Klaus finds a rule that allows an accused person to make a speech. He hopes this will convince people to free Jacques. Sunny discovers that the crows are delivering the poems. She finds a new one: The first thing you read contains the clue, An initial way to speak to you.
Framed for Murder
The children rush to the jail where Jacques is held. They learn that he is dead. V.F.D.'s police officer, Luciana, announces that Jacques (who they still think is Count Olaf) has been murdered. Then, Olaf appears, pretending to be Detective Dupin. He accuses the Baudelaires of killing "Count Olaf." He claims Violet's hair ribbon, a lens from Klaus's glasses, and Sunny's teeth marks were found at the scene. The townspeople ignore the children's alibis. The Baudelaires are quickly locked up. They are to be burned at the stake the next day for breaking town rules. Olaf, dropping his disguise, tells them one of them will escape. He needs one child alive to get the family fortune.
While in jail, Klaus realizes it's his 13th birthday. Officer Luciana brings them water and bread. Violet uses the water and bread to escape. She pours water on a wooden bench, letting it soak into the wall. Then she squeezes water from the bread into the wall. This softens the mortar between the bricks.
Escape and the Secret Message
At daybreak, Hector comes to their window. He tells them his hot-air balloon is ready if they can break out. He also gives them the daily poem: Inside these letters the eye will see, Nearby are your friends and V.F.D.
Running out of time, they use the wooden bench to break through the weakened wall. They read all the poems together. They use the line, "An initial way to speak to you," to read the first letter of each line: For sapphires we are held in here. Only you can end our fear. Until dawn comes we cannot speak. No words can come from this sad beak. The first thing you read contains the clue. An initial way to speak to you. Inside these letters the eye will see. Nearby are your friends and V.F.D.
The Baudelaires realize that the "sapphires" mean the Quagmires' fortune. The secret message is not V.F.D., but the word FOUNTAIN. They rush to Fowl Fountain. Sunny accidentally presses a secret button in the eye of a crow on the fountain. This opens the crow's beak, revealing the Quagmires inside!
A Narrow Escape
The children flee from the angry mob carrying pitchforks. The Quagmires explain that Count Olaf locked them in his house's tower. Then he built the fountain and trapped them inside. The Quagmires attached poems to the crows' feet each morning. These poems fell off at the Nevermore Tree when they dried. They confirm that the man who died was Jacques Snicket.
They reach the edge of town, and Hector arrives in his hot-air mobile home. He throws down a rope ladder. The Quagmires start to climb up. Officer Luciana shoots at the ladder with a harpoon gun. The rope breaks while the Baudelaires are still climbing. They jump back to the ground, saying goodbye to the Quagmires. The Quagmires throw their notebooks down to the orphans. These notebooks contain important research. Officer Luciana's last harpoon hits the books, scattering many pages. The hot-air mobile home flies away.
The book ends with Olaf and Officer Luciana escaping on a motorcycle. Luciana takes off her helmet and reveals she is Esmé Squalor, Olaf's evil girlfriend. The Baudelaires are left to flee the village on foot.
Other Languages
The Vile Village has been translated into many different languages around the world. Here are some of them:
- Brazilian Portuguese: "A Cidade Sinistra dos Corvos" (The Sinister City of Crows)
- Finnish: "Kelvoton kylä" (A Useless Village)
- French: "L’arbre aux corbeaux" (The Tree of Crows)
- Greek: "Το Αχρείο Χωριό" (The Village of Scoundrels)
- Japanese: "鼻持ちならない村" (The Odious Village)
- Korean: "사악한 마을" (Evil Town)
- Norwegian: Den beksvarte byen (The Pitch Black Town)
- Russian: "Гадкий городишко" (A Vile Town)
- Turkish: "Karga Laneti" (Crow Curse)
- Italian: "Il Vile Villaggio"
- Polish: "Wredna wioska" (The Mean/Despicable Village)
- Estonian: “Kurjuse küla” (The Village of Evil)
TV Show Adaptation
This book was turned into two episodes for the television series on Netflix. These were the fifth and sixth episodes of the second season.
