Ruth Summary

Jean tells the story of Winnet, a woman who is alone in a forest and meets a sorcerer who promises to help her. He is cooking and her hunger drives her to accept his invitation to eat with him. He draws her a chalk circle for protection from magic, leaving an opening so that she can enter it and giving her a brown pebble so that she can draw the circle closed behind her. She does and they dine in silence until she chokes on a piece of bread, whereupon she allows the sorcerer to enter her circle and "bang on her back". He tells her that he wants her for his apprentice. He tells her that unless she agrees, he'll never release her from the chalk circle and points out the fact that she doesn't have the power to release herself. She...