Late at night, one of the governor's maids came down the steps to make her way to bed. Her room was very small and was often visited by brown rats. It was extremely unpleasant for her to have such a room, but the sadistic governor would not allow her to move to a better one.

She had scrubbed floors all day and her body ached. None of the floors needed scrubbing, but the governor enjoyed seeing her toil, especially when he sat at his desk.

Before the occupation of Hilonien she had worked for a rich farming family, who was always kind and treated her as a daughter. Every evening she sat with them for dinner and didn't have to serve at the table. At night she slept in the same wide bed as the farmers two daughters. The farmer had been a poor farmhand himself when he was young, so he knew that the work was hard, but his master had treated him well and he wanted to be just as kind to his maid. All the farmers in Hilonien were agreed that the rich should not oppress the poor.