 Scene 1 - At the threshing floor outside Bethlehem, the next morning
(Ruth is waiting for Perez at the threshing floor - a level piece of open land at the top of a hill a little way from Bethlehem, which can be seen inthe distance. Fields of barley surround the hill. It is early morning. Night is lifting, the heat a3ready suggests a fierce sun rising. Ruth looks exhausted and desperate. She is pacing to and fro)  RUTH: (looking down at the fields of barley)
Soon it will be dawn
And the sun will spread its golden mantle on this lawn.
But no golden mantle will there ever be
On Ruth, or on Naomi.
The hovel where she lays her head
Is empty and our bodies, not yet fed,
Are empty too.
In Bethlehem there is no-one who will give us aid
Except this man whom I met yesterday,
Yet I am afraid
He will not come.
He seemed to me trapped by fear
Or by anger,
I could not tell.
Will he forget,
Will his anger betray me yet?
Ah! He is the only one
We can trust
All else has failed.
Perez will come!
He must!
(She walks to and fro on the threshing-floor, wiping her hands in anxiety. Suddenly she lifts her head. Perez enters) He is here. Oh, joy! That I should doubt him!
(She runs up to Perez as he approaches.) Perez, I am so pleased to see you. PEREZ: (Aside)
Her face changed as soon as she saw me. How warmly she smiles at me. It must be love that transforms her mood. But it is too soon to speak. I must not make her nervous. There will be time. RUTH:
Thank you for helping me. PEREZ:(To Ruth)
I have helped you but I know nothing about you. RUTH:
I am a widow. I have journeyed far with my mother-in-law and returned to Bethlehem, the place of her birth. And now we have no money and no food. PEREZ:
Follow the reapers and gather what they leave RUTH:
Thank you. (Perez makes no move to go.) RUTH:
Should we now go to the grain fields? PEREZ:
There is no need to hurry. Let us stay a while and talk. (There is a short silence as Ruth gets embarrassed.) PEREZ:(Aside)
My heart is beating so. (To Ruth.) I love you! RUTH: (shocked and unable briefly to speak)
Please do not say such things. You cannot know what you feel for me.(She takes Perez’s hand and speaks tenderly.) I know you are a good man for you have taken pity on this poor woman. You are confused. PEREZ:
Do you not care for me? RUTH:
I cannot think of such things. PEREZ:(Aside)
She is too in awe of me. She touched my hand so tenderly. That is surely a sign, a sign that she loves me. RUTH:
Perez, let us go now to the grain-fields. PEREZ:
I will show you where to go. (Ruth and Perez exit) Intermezzo - the sun rises to the heat of the day Scene 2 - In the grain fields, later that day (Ruth is resting. Beside her is a bag with sheaves of barley in it. It islunchtime, yet she has nothing to eat or drink. She is in despair. Her head is buried in her hands. The sun is shining relentlessly.) RUTH:
I am hungry and thirsty so. Oh, Mahlon, my husband. Can you not see me here? For ten years you loved me. And I loved you with all my heart!
My nights are empty and my bed is cold,
And the memory of you holding me
Is more, so much more, than I can bear,
I spend my life in blackest misery.
No heart is more anguished
Than the heart you knew and loved.
No eyes are wetter
Than the eyes you used to kiss.
And now! No lips are drier
Than the lips I pressed against you.
How I loved you, how I worshipped
Every item of your being
Every movement, every moment
Oh my darling, Mahlon.
My days are lonely and my heart is cold
And I want your body near me.
I long to feel you, I long to touch you,
You’ll haunt me through eternity.
And no heart is more broken
Than the heart you made your prisoner.
No tears are flowing freer
No body aches with greater pain.
Oh! How I weep when I remember
The happy days we spent together.
Can you not save me? can you not save me
From my thirst and from my hunger?
Find me bread and find me water
Oh my darling, Mahlon. (Ruth puts her face in her hands and weeps. Boaz enters. He is carrying a skin of water and a satchel which, as we shall shortly discover, contains food. He ignores Ruth at first until he hears her sobbing.) BOAZ:(Aside)
What is this? A young woman alone. And crying. That bag beside her! She has been gleaning in my fields. (He bends down and puts his hand on her shoulder.) Young woman! My name is Boaz. I own the fields in which you have been gleaning. Speak to me and tell me your problem. RUTH: (raising her face to Boaz)
Sir! I am sorry that you should see me in this state. I have no water and no food. BOAZ:
Why did you not bring food and drink with you? I have some with me which you shall share. (Boaz sits beside Ruth and opening his bags hands Ruth some water and some bread. She drinks the water quickly and attacks the bread voraciously. Boaz watches her until she has finished eating and drinking.) RUTH:
Thank you, sir. (She stands and starts to move away but Boaz holds her back.) BOAZ:
Your story is, I am sure, an unhappy one. (Ruth looks doubtful and turns way)
You may trust me. (Ruth walks around thinking. Then having made up her mind she comes and sits next to Boaz.) RUTH:
My name is Ruth. I come from Moab with my mother-in-law, Naomi, returned to the city of her birth. We seek her husband’s kinsman but do not know who he is. Naomi was poor and of low status when she married. But Ehimelech loved her. His family dispossessed him so they left Bethlehem for Moab. Now all our men are dead. Naomi must find her kinsman. But she knows nothing of Ehimelech’s family. BOAZ:
When did Naomi and Ehimelech leave here? RUTH:
Twenty years ago. BOAZ:
Did they have two sons? RUTH: (excitedly)
Mahlon and Kilion. BOAZ:
Kilion.
Then I recall them. My father was Ehimelech’s cousin. And his kinsman. But he is dead. I am Naomi’s kinsman. RUTH:(overcome with emotion)
You, Boaz, are her kinsman! BOAZ:
Yes, I am her kinsman RUTH:(to herself)
Oh, what peace those words bring to me
What pleasure fills my heart. BOAZ (to himself):
Oh what pleasure those words bring to me
With what peace they fill my heart RUTH:(to herself)
My mind once filled with pain and fear
Is filled at last with hope and there
I find salvation, joy, redemption. BOAZ(to himself):
My mind once filled with pain and fear
Is filled at last with hope
And there I find salvation, joy, redemption RUTH, BOAZ:
Despair you shall depart. BOAZ (to himself):
For so long have I sought
A woman who will be for me
Close in spirit and in harmony,
With the thoughts and desires that I feel.
And see her eyes, how warm and kind,
Her hands, tender, yet her face, lined
With years of struggle and painful work.
Would that my destiny lay within her life,
Would that my dreams Oh, no, never my wife.
That could never be.
Why would one, like her, even look at me!
She is young and pretty, tender, yet wise,
Any man would be pleased, to be the object of her sighs.
To see the look upon her face
Of pride and pleasure,
When he comes to take his place
At table, or his leisure
In her bed. RUTH:(to herself)
Glorious day,
Wrap me in your warm embrace.
Most golden of suns
Shine upon my happy face
For I have found our saviour. BOAZ(to himself):
Glorious woman,
Wrap me in your warm embrace.
Most golden of faces
Shine upon me in this place.
I have found the woman that I love. (They talk together. Perez enters. When he sees Ruth and Boaz talking together he becomes angry.) PEREZ:
What is this? My master not content with having everything must take from me the only woman who has been attracted to me. (Boaz sees Perez and summons him.) BOAZ:
Perez! This is Ruth. I am the kinsman to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and I will help them. RUTH:
I do not know how to thank you. PEREZ: (in great agitation)
Master, you will be a good friend to Ruth and Naomi. BOAZ: (to Perez)
Speak to my workers. Tell them to leave grain aside for Ruth. PEREZ:(to Ruth, his fury growing)
With my master’s help you will be well served. (to himself) How much easier it is for him to be generous. (Perez stares at Ruth and Boaz with despair and anger. Ruth catches Perez’s look but, as she jumps up and approaches him he runs off. Ruth runs after him.)
Intermezzo - The long day draws to a close. Ruth, accompanied by Perez returns to her home.
Scene 3 - Ruth and Naomi’s home, that evening
(Ruth and Naomi's home is a poor hovel. The ceiling is low. The furniture is a broken table and a bench. On the floor the women's cloaks have been laid for their bed. The walls are damp and water drips from the corners of the ceiling, On the far right Naomi stands over a small fire on which sits a small pot, the contents of which Naomi stirs slowly and wearily. On the far left is a door to the street. A portion of the street is just visible.) PEREZ: (to Ruth)
This place is so cold and damp, despite the heat of the sun. RUTH:
It is all we can afford. (They enter. Ruth runs to Naomi) Naomi I have such wonderful news. Today I have found your kinsman. At midday I had no food or drink. Then a man approached me and gave me bread
and water. We talked and I told him my story. When I mentioned your name and that of your husband he declared that he was your kinsman. (Naomi moves to welcome Perez but Ruth shakes her head) NAOMI:
He looks so young. RUTH:
This is Perez, Naomi. He works for your kinsman, Boaz. NAOMI:
Boaz! Today in the market I heard people talking of him. He is rich and a prominent member of the Council of Elders. We are blessed that he is our kinsman. Perez, tonight you shall join us for something to eat. It will not be much. Perhaps soon we shall eat better (While Naomi continues into her monologue Ruth and Perez are seen to talk together.)
Will my poverty henceforth be gone?
Will there be money now, when there was always none?
Will my bones be warmed by warmer clothes?
With richer fabric than I have ever known?
Will all be made that was undone?
(Naomi exits) (During Naomi’s monologue Ruth and Perez’s talk has been getting increasingly agitated.) RUTH:
No! Do not say that! Do not say that. PEREZ:
Ruth, I love you. If I had as much wealth as Boaz, could you not love me? RUTH:
Boaz is a friend, a kinsman. Someone who will help me and Naomi. That is all. That is all! Please stop this madness, this hate filled outburst.. PEREZ:
You wish me to stay. So that you may mock me? So that you and Naomi may talk of Boaz and praise him while I must sit silently and listen? I will not do that. I will not eat here tonight or ever! (Perez rushes out. Ruth runs after him to the door and then turns back) RUTH:
I have lost a friend. When he speaks to Boaz I will have lost a benefactor too. Oh! The grief of loss. When they told me Mahlon was dead
What tears, what angry tears I shed.
My empty heart, my empty bed
Were all that remained of my life. When they said my darling was no more
Such bitter thoughts, which I could not endure,
Swept through me, and for evermore
I knew that this was all there would be. When they told me Mahlon had gone,
When they said I’d see him come no more,
When they said my loneliness would be
Forever and for all eternity, Then I cried: What outrage!
Oh why should I be punished for his crime,
Left destitute, divided from his love,
My body aching,
And only Naomi for precious company.
Who now should I pray to?
The God of All the Jews, should it be He?
Naomi says He is a God of Vengeance,
The same as Chemosh, how can that help me?
Oh! Terror! Who will help me?
God of all the Jews, will it be You?
Can I pray to a God Whom I know not?
What do I say? I am not a Jew!
Oh despair! My heart will break from sorrow,
Loneliness and grief will rule my life,
No man will ever come to know me,
I will never be another’s wife!
But what of that dream I had, that dream that did foretell,
That I would bear a King, a King of Israel?
Oh how can that be if I am never wed,
If no man comes to me in my marriage bed?
Yet I begin to feel that there’s a promise,
That, as in my dream, all will be as it had seemed,
And that there is a purpose to my anguish
And all my misery will be redeemed.
(Ruth face suddenly lights up.)
God of all the Jews You’ve made this happen,
I know you’ve brought me here, to meet a man,
This man will be the father of my child,
He’ll justify Your great, eternal plan.
(Ruth looks upward her face filled with hope and joy.) | 
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