ruby was forced to work as a domestic from a young age and was driven insane by the abuse of her white masters. the next morning, the cook set her to make soup for the king, and she put her golden ring in it. he does not believe her when she claims she did not mean for things to go this far, and that she has fired the man responsible. at the end he decided not to imitate her, but rather tried to express how he would have felt in a similar situation. temperatures below the freezing mark are not uncommon during this period. 