¶ Ruth sleapeth at Booz fete, and is knowen his kynswoman.
CAPI. III.
THen Noemi her mother in lawe sayde [ A] vnto her: my doughter I wyll seke reste for the, that thou mayste be in better state. For nowe this Booz our kynsman, with whose maydens thou waste, wynoweth his barleye to nyghte in the thresshynge floure: wasshe thy selfe therfore and anoynte the, and put thy rayment vpon the, and get the to the thresshynge floure. But lette not the man be ware of the, tyll he haue lefte earynge and drynkynge. And when he goeth to slepe, marke the place where he layeth hym downe, and then goo and lyfte vp the clothes that are on his fete, and laye the downe / and so shal he tel the what thou shalt do. And she answered her / all that thou byddest me, I wyll doo. So she went vnto the floure, and dyd all that her mo¦ther [ B] in lawe bad her. And when Booz hadde eaten and dronken, and made hym merye, he went and lay downe by the syde of the heape, and she came softlye and lyfte vp the clothes of his fete, and layde her downe / and at mid∣nyght the man was afrayde and groped / and beholde, a woman laye at his feete. Then he sayd, what art thou? and she answered, I am Ruth thyne handmayde / sprede thy mantell ouer thyne handmayde, for thou arte the nexte of the kynne. And then he said, blessed be thou in ye Lorde (my doughter) for thou hast shewed more goodnesse in the latter ende, then at the begynnynge / in as moche as thou folowedst not yonge men, whether they were poore or ryche. And now (my doughter feare not, I wyll do to the all that thou requyrest / for al within [ C] the gates of this citye knowe that thou arte a woman of vertue. And it is true that I am of thy nexte kynne / how be it, there is one nere then I. Tarye all nyght, and when mornyng is come, yf he wil mary the, wel and good / let him so do. But if he wil not haue the, as sure as the Lord lyueth, I wil haue the / lye styl tyl [ D] the mornynge / and so she laye at his fete tyll ye mornyng. And she arose vp before one coulde know an other. And he said / let no man know that there came any woman in to ye thresshing floure. And he sayd brynge the mantell yt thou hast vpon the, and holde it vp / and she helde it vp. And he met in sixe measures of barleye and layde it on her. And she gather in to the citye, and came to her mother in lawe whiche sayd / what tydynges, my doughter? And she tolde her all that the man had done to her. And said moreouer, these sixe measures of barleye gaue he me, and sayd: thou shalt not go emptye vn¦to thy mother in law. Thē said she, my dough∣ter syt styll, vntyll thou knowe how the mater wyl procede. For the man wil not be in rest tyl he haue ended the mater this same daye.