Chapter 36 Mrs Ruth

Once upon a time, three people looked at a white house, which stood alone on a green hill.The first said, "That's Mrs. Ruth's house, she's an old ugly witch." The second said, "You are wrong. Mrs. Ruth is a beautiful woman, and she lives there sunk in dreams." A third said, "You are both wrong. Mrs. Ruth is a great landowner of this great land, and she sucks the blood of her serfs." They walked and talked about Mrs. Ruth. When they came to the crossroads, they met an old man. Someone asked the old man, "Can you tell us about Mrs. Ruth who lives in the white house on the hill?" The old man raised his head and smiled at them. , and then said: "I am ninety years old now; I was only a child when I remembered Mrs. Ruth. But Mrs. Ruth died long ago eighty years ago, and now the white house is empty and closed." Owls sometimes howled there, and people said that the house was haunted.

Lady Ruth Three men once looked from afar upon a white house that stood alone on a green hill. One of them said, "That is the house of Lady Ruth. She is an old witch." The second man said, "You are wrong. Lady Ruth is a beautiful woman who lives there consecrated unto her dreams." The third man said, "You are both wrong. Lady Ruth is the holder of this vast land, and she draws blood from her serfs." And they walked on discussing Lady Ruth. Then when they came to a crossroad they met an old man, and one of them asked him, saying, "Would you please tell us about the Lady Ruth who lives in that white house upon the hill?" "

And the old man raised his head and smiled upon them, and said, "I am ninety of years, and I remember Lady Ruth when I was but a boy. But Lady Ruth died eighty years ago, and now the house is empty. The owls shoot therein, sometimes, and people say the place is haunted."