Jude the Obscure Part 1 Chapter 2

In which the young and gentle Jude, burdened with the weight of village scrutiny and harsh labour, experiences a harsh lesson in the contradictions of kindness and duty while tending to a field and its unwelcome rooks, drawing a sympathetic kinship with the creatures whom he secretly wishes to prosper. His reflections on the unyielding laws of nature and society awaken a yearning for a brighter destiny, prompting his first tentative steps towards the distant and hallowed city of Christminster.