愚蠢的老头子用一头牛换了一袋烂苹果，老婆子竟然回家给了他一个吻
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA4MTg2MDUyNw%3D%3D&mid=200366266&idx=2&sn=14fae354b5e14fcd134fa91b6396cb0b&scene=4#rd
Literally, it means a silly old man exchanged a cow for a bag of rotten apples but the wife rewarded him with a kiss when he came home.
Found the heading interesting, which old woman would be so forgiving when her old man exchanged a cow for a bag of garbage? So I clicked and led me to the page. Upon reading the introduction, it says that's a story by Hans Christian Andersen - What the old man does is always right (English version)
Well, I don't read many stories of Hans Christan Andersen but I do know that he writes fairy-tales, so this could only mean that the story is fictional. Anyway, here's a gist of the story:
This old couple lived in a farmhouse and had nothing valuable under their names apart from a horse. One day, they decided that they will sell the horse, or exchanged it for something more useful to them, so the old woman asked the old man to go to the town to do whatever he deemed fit. "You know best, old man,"
Along the way, the old man made the following exchanges, being thoughtful that each exchange will please the wife:
1) Horse for a cow
2) Cow for a sheep
3) Sheep for a goose
4) Goose for a fowl
5) Fowl for a bag of shriveled apple
(From a normal person's point of view, the exchanges are always depreciating in values.)
After making all the exchanges, the old man went into an inn parlor where he met two rich Englishmen. Upon hearing the story, the two men suggested that the old man would get an earful from his wife when he got home, but he reassured the two men that his wife will not, an in fact, give him a kiss for his work. That's when a wager was made and the three men headed back to the old man's farmhouse.
Upon the old man's return, he told his wife about the exchanges he made, one at a time. These are the reactions after each exchanged was said:
1) “Now we shall have plenty of milk, and butter, and cheese on the table."
2)“Ah, better still!” cried the wife. “You always think of everything; we have just enough pasture for a sheep. Ewe’s milk and cheese, woolen jackets and stockings! The cow could not give all these, and her hair only falls off. How you think of everything!”
3)“Then we shall have roast goose to eat this year. You dear old man, you are always thinking of something to please me. This is delightful. We can let the goose walk about with a string tied to her leg, so she will be fatter still before we roast her.”
4)“A fowl! Well, that was a good exchange,” replied the woman. “The fowl will lay eggs and hatch them, and we shall have chickens; we shall soon have a poultry-yard. Oh, this is just what I was wishing for.”
5)“What! I really must give you a kiss for that!”
And the reason for number 5 was because she was mocked at by her neighbour when she went to borrow some herbs, saying that she could not even afford to return a shriveled apple. And here there is one whole sack of the apples which she could lend even tens to the neighbour.
The two men happily paid up to the wager and thought it worthwhile to pay to see such a loving couple.
What have I learnt from this story?
1) It's heartwarming that you see the wife had absolute faith in her husband that whatever he did, he did it with her in mind. Though people might see that it was silly to get something of less value than before, the wife knew better.
2) Though not known how long they were married, I guess it must have been very long, since people in the past married young. I guess this sort of trusting relationship takes time to foster.
3) A man will think of ways to please his wife, even if the things he do may seem irrational in the eyes of others. Love is irrational anyway.
4) A wife is a happy wife if she thinks the best of her husband and have faith and not look at only monetary values of actions.
5) This story is not real, so I guess this type of wives don't exist. But I'm pretty sure this type of husbands do exist.
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