require 'rubygems'
require 'redcloth'
text = RedCloth.new %{Who would ever write "HTML":http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/ 
markup directly?
I mean, _who has the time_? Nobody, that's who:
|_. Person |_. Has the time?        |
|   Jake   |     No                 |
|  Alice   |     No                 |
|  Rodney  | Not since the accident |
}
puts text.to_html

<p>Who would ever write
<a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/"><span class="caps">HTML</span></a>
markup directly?</p>

<p>I mean, <em>who has the time</em>? Nobody, that&#8217;s who:</p>

<table>
<tr>
<th>Person </th>
<th>Has the time?        </th>
</tr>
...

Who would ever write <a href="http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/"><span class="caps">HTML</span></a> 
markup directly?
I mean, <em>who has the time</em>? Nobody, that&#8217;s who:
	<table>
		<tr>
			<th>Person </th>
			<th>Has the time?        </th>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>   Jake   </td>
			<td>     No                 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>  Alice   </td>
			<td>     No                 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>  Rodney  </td>
			<td> Not since the accident </td>
		</tr>
	</table>