A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Chapter 29 Summary

The Smallpox Hut

  • Arthur and the Yankee arrive at a peasant's hut, where a woman urges them to flee. The hut is under the Church's curse.
  • The Yankee goes to get the woman some water while Arthur begins airing out the hut, and when the Yankee returns, he realizes that the woman and her family have smallpox… so airing it out is probably pointless.
  • The woman shows them her husband, who has died of the disease. She says that she envies him his peace and happiness.
  • Arthur brings the couple's daughter down from the upper story of the hut, and she soon dies as well, while the mother eagerly awaits the release of death.
  • The mother tells Arthur and the Yankee about her family's woes at the hands of the Church and the noble to whom they are beholden.