The Story of Ruth

what you have done for your mother-in-law, and how you left your homeland and your people for her sake — God bless you. Stay always behind my reapers, and when they move to another field, go after them; eat of their food, and dip your morsel in the dish in which they dip.

And it was as he said. When she sat beside the reapers to eat, he handed her some of the roasted grain, and she ate, and set aside part of what he had given her to carry in the evening to her mother-in-law. And when the day was over she returned home with an ample quantity of barley, and her mother-in-law's share of the roasted grain, and told her the name of the man in whose field she had worked. And Naomi said: He is a kinsman of ours; do as he has told you. And Ruth did so, and went on working behind the reapers of Boaz until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest ended; then she stayed with her mother-in-law.

The man was the second redeemer of the stricken family; and the first redeemer had the right to buy whatever the deceased had owned, if there was anything to be sold. Naomi had a piece of land, and she thought of the second redeemer, Boaz, and began to lay out a plan for her daughter-in-law — a plan which, if it proves anything, proves that the young woman's love had so moved the mother-in-law that she herself would go seeking a husband for her, to take the place of her beloved dead son, though it would deprive her of the labors of this tender daughter-in-law who supported her and lightened the blackness of her life.

And the young woman went forth according to the appointed plan, and lay down one night at the feet of the redeemer; and when he sensed her presence and asked who she was, she said what her mother-in-law had taught her: I am your handmaid Ruth; spread the skirt of your garment over me,

for you are our redeemer. And the kindly man was moved, and said: Blessed are you, my daughter, for you have not run after the young men, rich or poor. Fear not; go to your mother-in-law... All the city knows that you are

a virtuous woman; and tomorrow, when morning comes, I shall arrange everything.

And morning came, and Boaz gathered ten of the elders of the city, and the first redeemer — holder

Talk of the Heart – Hope
Slowly... the boy's lashes drooped, and met in a near embrace,
and with one long sigh... he passed into a peaceful sleep...
His mother's hand plays with his hair, brushing it back from the broad forehead, and from between her lips there trembles a limpid melody —
the melody the boy loves, and falls asleep upon!
*
... Moments... and the mother is lost in delicate contemplation...
Her eyes watch over the sleeping little one; his boyhood will open, with the days, into a flourishing youth:
a filling-out of the chest... a rounding of the forearms,
a lengthening frame, roughening... a harmony of limbs,
the flush of health in two sun-browned cheeks...
And her gaze settles on the palm of his hand,
and on the yearning, outstretched fingers...
And gently she lifted the brown hand between her own —
... to her lips... then to her breast!
How often she has longed to do such a thing,
and a will imposed by the dignity of motherhood held her back!
*
... No, she will not shed, as is her habit... generous tears.
Today she is nearer to happiness than to tears.
How wondrous, what is revealed to her eye!
Is a fresh green hope dawning anew in her heart?
Is her beloved returning, to walk again through the house, after a long and wearying separation,
so that she may delight in the sight of him, filling her eye, filling her heart...
in the person of this precious little one — her little one??
Aphrodite
16