The Clever Wife

In a country there was a merchant who traded in all kinds of
merchandise, and used to make journeys from country to country in his
boat to buy and sell his goods. He one day said to his wife, "I cannot
stay at home any more, for I must go on a year's journey to carry on
my business." And he added, laughing, "When I return I expect to find
you have built me a grand well; and also, as you are such a clever
wife, to see a little son." Then he got into his boat and went away.

When he was gone his wife set to work, and she spun four hanks of
beautiful thread with her own hands. Then she dressed herself in her
prettiest clothes, and put on her finest jewels. "I am going to the
bazar," she said to her ayahs, "to sell this thread." "That is not
right," said one of the ayahs. "You must not sell your thread
yourself, but let me sell it for you. What will your husband say if he
hears you have been selling thread in the bazar?" "I will sell my
thread myself," answered the merchant's wife. "You could never sell it
for me."

So off she set to the bazar, and every one in it said, "What a
beautiful woman that is!" At last the kotwal saw her, and came to her
at once.

"What beautiful thread!" he said. "Is it for sale?" "Yes," she said.
"How much a hank?" said the kotwal. "Fifty rupees," she answered.
"Fifty rupees! Who will ever give you fifty rupees for it?" "I will
not sell it for less," said the woman. "I shall get fifty rupees for
it." "Well," said the kotwal, "I will give you the fifty rupees. Can I
dine with you at your house?" "Yes," she answered, "to-night at ten
o'clock." Then he took the thread and gave her fifty rupees.

Then she went away to another bazar, and there the king's wazir saw
her trying to sell her thread. "What lovely thread! Is it for sale?"
he said. "Yes, at one hundred rupees the hank," she answered. "Well, I
will give you one hundred rupees. Can I dine with you at your house?"
said the wazir. "Yes," she answered, "to-night at eleven o'clock."
"Good," said the wazir; "here are the hundred rupees." And he took the
thread and went away.

The merchant's wife now went to a third bazar, and there the king's
kazi saw her. "Is that beautiful thread for sale?" he asked. "Yes,"
she answered, "for one hundred and fifty rupees." "I will give you the
hundred and fifty rupees. Can I dine with you at your house?" "Yes,"
she said, "to-night at twelve o'clock." "I will come," said the kazi.
"Here are one hundred and fifty rupees." So she took the rupees and
gave him the thread.

She set off with the fourth hank to the fourth bazar, and in this
bazar was the king's palace. The king saw her, and asked if the thread
was for sale. "Yes," she said, "for five hundred rupees." "Give me the
thread," said the king; "here are your five hundred rupees. Can I dine
with you at your house?" "Yes," she said, "to-night at two o'clock."

Then she went home and sent one of her servants to the bazar to buy
her four large chests; and she told her other servants that they were
to get ready four very good dinners for her. Each dinner was to be
served in a different room; and one was to be ready at ten o'clock
that night, one at eleven, one at twelve, and one at two in the
morning. The servant brought her four large chests, and she had them
placed in four different rooms.

At ten o'clock the kotwal arrived. The merchant's wife greeted him
graciously, and they sat down and dined. After dinner she said to him,
"Can you play at cards?" "Yes," he answered. She brought some cards,
and they sat and played till the clock struck eleven, when the
doorkeeper came in to say, "The wazir is here, and wishes to see you."
The kotwal was in a dreadful fright. "Do hide me somewhere," he said
to her. "I have no place where you can hide in this room," she
answered; "but in another room I have a big chest. I will shut you up
in that if you like, and when the wazir is gone, I will let you out of
it." So she took him into the next room, and he got into one of the
four big chests, and she shut down the lid and locked it.

Then she bade the doorkeeper bring in the wazir, and they dined
together. After dinner she said, "Can you play at cards?" "Yes," said
the wazir. She took out the cards, and they played till twelve
o'clock, when the doorkeeper came to say the kazi had come to see her.
"Oh, hide me! hide me!" cried the wazir in a great fright. "If you
come to another room," she said, "I will hide you in a big chest I
have. I can let you out when he is gone." So she locked the wazir up
in the second chest.

She and the kazi now dined. Then she said, "Can you play at cards?"
"Yes," said the kazi. So they sat playing at cards till two o'clock,
when the doorkeeper said the king had come to see her. "Oh, what shall
I do?" said the kazi, terribly frightened. "Do hide me. Do not let me
be seen by the king." "You can hide in a big chest I have in another
room, if you like," she answered, "till he is gone." And she locked up
the kazi in her third chest.

The king now came in, and they dined. "Will you play a little game at
cards?" she asked. "Yes," said the king. So they played till three
o'clock, when the doorkeeper came running in (just as she had told him
to do) to say, "My master's boat has arrived, and he is coming up to
the house. He will be here directly." "Now what shall I do?" said the
king, who was as frightened as the others had been. "Here is your
husband. He must not see me. You must hide me somewhere." "I have no
place to hide you in," she said, "but a big chest. You can get into
that if you like, and I will let you out to-morrow morning." So she
shut the lid of the fourth chest down on the king and locked him up.
Then she went to bed, and to sleep, and slept till morning.

The next day, after she had bathed and dressed, and eaten her
breakfast, and done all her household work, she said to her servants,
"I want four coolies." So the servants went for the coolies; and when
they came she showed them the four chests, and said, "Each of you must
take one of these chests on your head and come with me." Then they set
out with her, each carrying a chest.

Meanwhile the kotwal's son, the wazir's son, the kazi's son, and the
king's son, had been roaming about looking everywhere for their
fathers, and asking every one if they had seen them, but no one knew
anything about them.

The merchant's wife went first to the kotwal's house, and there she
saw the kotwal's son. She had the kotwal's chest set down on the
ground before his door. "Will you buy this chest?" she said to his
son. "What is in it?" he asked. "A most precious thing," she answered.
"How much do you want for it?" said his son. "One thousand rupees,"
she said; "and when you open the chest, you will see the contents are
worth two thousand. But you must not open it till you are in your
father's house." "Well," said the kotwal's son, "here are a thousand
rupees." The woman and the other three chests went on their way, while
he took his into the house. "What a heavy chest!" he said. "What can
be inside?" Then he lifted the lid. "Why, there's my father!" he
cried. "Father, how came you to be in this chest?" The kotwal was very
much ashamed of himself. "I never thought she was the woman to play me
such a trick," he said; and then he had to tell his son the whole
story.

The merchant's wife next stopped at the wazir's house, and there she
saw the wazir's son. The wazir's chest was put down before his door,
and she said to his son, "Will you buy this chest?" "What is inside of
it?" he asked. "A most precious thing," she answered. "Will you buy
it?" "How much do you want for it?" asked the son. "Only two thousand
rupees, and it is worth three thousand." So the wazir's son bought his
father, without knowing it, for two thousand rupees. "You must not
open the chest till you are in the house," said the merchant's wife.
The wazir's son opened the chest in the house at once, wondering what
could be in it; and the wazir's wife stood by all the time. When they
saw the wazir himself, looking very much ashamed, they were greatly
astonished. "How came you there?" they cried. "Where have you been?"
said his wife. "Oh," said the wazir, "I never thought she was a woman
to treat me like this;" and he, too, had to tell all his story.

Now the merchant's wife stopped at the kazi's door, and there stood
the kazi's son. "Will you buy this chest?" she said to him, and had
the kazi's chest put on the ground. "What is in it?" said the kazi's
son. "Silver and gold," she answered. "You shall have it for three
thousand rupees. The contents are worth four." "Well, I will take it,"
said the son. "Don't open it till you are in your house," she said,
and took her three thousand rupees and went away. Great was the
excitement when the kazi stepped out of the chest. "Oh!" he groaned,
"I never thought she could behave like this to me."

The merchant's wife now went to the palace, and set the king's chest
down at the palace gates. There she saw the king's son. "Will you buy
this chest?" she said. "What is in it?" asked the prince. "Diamonds,
pearls, and all kinds of precious stones," said the merchant's wife.
"You shall have the chest for five thousand rupees, but its contents
are worth a great deal more." "Well," said the king's son, "here are
your five thousand rupees; give me the chest." "Don't open it out
here," she said. "Take it into the palace and open it there." And away
she went home.

The king's son opened the chest, and there was his father. "What's all
this?" cried the prince. "How came _you_ to be in the chest?" The king
was very much ashamed, and did not tell much about his adventure; but
when he was sitting in his court-house, he had the merchant's wife
brought to him, and gave her a quantity of rupees, saying, "You are a
wise and clever woman."

Now the kotwal knew the wazir had gone to see the merchant's wife; and
the wazir knew the kazi had gone; and the kazi, that the king had
gone; but this was all that any of them knew.

The merchant's wife had now plenty of rupees, so she had a most
beautiful well built and roofed over. Then she locked the door of the
well, and told the servants no one was to drink any of its water, or
bathe in it, till her husband came home: he was to be the first to
drink its water, and bathe in the well.

Then she sent her ayah to the bazar to buy her clothes and ornaments
such as cowherd's wives and daughter's wear; and when the ayah had
brought her these, she packed them up in a box. Then she dressed
herself in men's clothes, so that no one could tell she was a woman,
and ordered a horse to be got ready for her. "I am going to eat the
air of another country for a little while," she said. "You must all
take great care of the house while I am away." The servants did not
like her going away at all; they were afraid her husband might return
during her absence, and that he would be angry with them for having
let her go. "Don't be afraid," she said. "There is nothing to be
frightened about. I shall come back all right."

So she set out, taking the key of the well, the box with the clothes
her ayah had bought for her in the bazar, and plenty of rupees. She
also took two of her servants. She travelled a long, long way, asking
everywhere for her husband's boat. At last at the end of a month she
came to where it was. Here she hired a little house, and dressed
herself like a cowherd's daughter. Then she got some very good milk,
and went down to the banks of the river to sell it. Everybody said,
"Do look what a beautiful woman that is selling milk!" She sold her
milk very quickly, it was so good. This she did for several days, till
her husband, the merchant, saw her. He thought her so beautiful, that
he asked her to bring him some milk to his boat. So every day for a
little while she sold him milk. One day he said to her, "Will you
marry me?" "How can I marry you?" she said. "You are a merchant, and I
am a cowherd's daughter. Soon you will be leaving this country, and
will travel to another in your boat; you will want me to go with you.
Then I shall have to leave my father and mother, and who will take
care of them?" "Let us be married," said the merchant. "I am going to
stay here for three months. When I go, you shall return to your father
and mother, and later I will come back to you." To this she agreed,
and they were married, and she went to live in the boat. At the end
of three months, the merchant said to her, "My business here is done,
and I must go to another country. Would you like to go home to your
father and mother while I am away?" "Yes," she said. "Here are some
rupees for you to live on in my absence," he said. "I do not want any
rupees," said his wife. "I only want you to give me two things: your
old cap, and your picture." These he gave her, and then he went to his
boat, and she went back to her own home.

Some time afterwards she had a little son. The servants were greatly
frightened, for they thought their master would not be pleased when he
came home; and he was not pleased when he did come two months later.
He was so cross that he would not look at the baby-boy, and he would
hardly look at his beautiful well.

One night he lay awake thinking, and he thought he would kill his wife
and her little son. But the next day she came to him: "Tell me the
truth," she said; "you are angry with me? Don't be angry, for I want
to show you a picture I like very much--the picture of my boy's
father." Then she showed him his own picture, and the old cap he had
given her on board his boat; and she told him how she had been the
cowherd's daughter; and also how she had gained the money to build his
well. "You see," she said, "I have done all you bade me. Here is your
well, and here is your son." Then the merchant was very happy. He
kissed and loved his little son, and thought his well was beautiful;
and he said to his wife, "What a clever woman you are!"