Tit for Tat: July 2012

        There was once a man whose wife was so bad-tempered that he could not manage her, no matter how he tried. One day, in order to escape from his wife's temper, he went into the forest seeking peace of mind. As he sought peace of mind, he found something else besides, a deep, deep hole.
        When he returned to his home, he said to his wife, "You cannot imagine what I have found in the forest! A deep, deep hole with a huge pot of money in it."
        "Is that so?" exclaimed his wife. "And you are only telling me about it? You simpleton! Did you not have the sense to bring the money home?"
        "No, my dear. I will not crawl for money. If you want the money, you shall have to crawl for it yourself."
         The next morning the poor husband had less peace than he had had the day before. He could find peace nowhere, not even in a crack in the wall. His wife demanded to be taken to the hole and the pot of money. There was nothing else to be done. Starting from the house, they soon reached the deep hole in the forest. The poor man's troubles did not end there. His wife cajoled, demanding to know how she was to get the pot of money when the hole was so deep.
        "Is it my fault that the hole is so deep?" complained the husband. "Bend over a little more; reach down a little farther. Perhaps then you can get hold of the pot."
        His wife stretched and reached, reached and stretched. Suddenly, she fell over, head first into the hole. Not knowing what else to do, the man turned homeward, knowing at least that he would not be troubled by his wife for a little while. But the more he thought about it, the worse he felt. Surely there was something he could do. At last he thought of a plan. Taking a long rope, he tied a small board to the end of it. When he reached the hole, he lowered the board into the hole. Then he started to pull. He pulled and pulled and pulled with all his might. It was surprising how heavy his wife had become, but at long last he had pulled her out.
        Then he looked at the board and was overcome with fright. Instead of his wife, there sat the devil himself on the board.
        The devil looked at the man and said, "How good it is, brother, that you pulled me out of that hole. Why just yesterday a terribly bad-tempered woman came down into the hole, and not a moment of peace have I had since. There was no place to be safe from her biting tongue."
        Without a word the husband started to push the devil back into the hole. How the devil begged for the man to stop! Why he would make the man happy for the rest of his life!
        "Happy for the rest of my life? First, you must tell me how you can do that."
        "Well," said the devil, "take this stick that I have, go across the river, and cure the ailing baron who lives there. All you have to do is strike the baron three times with this stick, and he will be cured instantly. You will receive enough money so you can live with no cares."
        This plan pleased the man well enough; so he took the stick, crossed the river, and hurried to the home of the ailing baron.
        "What can a simple peasant know about such things?" the servants asked. And they refused to admit the man. But when the baron himself heard that a stranger was insisting he could help him, he demanded to see the man.
        One, two, three. The man struck the baron three times with his stick, and lo, the baron recovered immediately. With joy the baron gave the man a large sum of money and bade him go to one of his relatives a far richer baron, who was also ill.
        Away went the man to the home of the richer baron. One, two, three strikes of the stick, and that baron was cured. This time the man received twice as much money as the first baron had given him.
        "Now," said the second baron, "you must go to the king himself. He, too, is ailing, and you must help him."
         Away went the man to the king. One, two, and three strikes of the stick, and the king recovered completely. So great was his joy that the king gave him a vast measure of money.
        The man started toward his home, carrying the heavy sack of money. On the way he met the devil, who stared with envy at the large sack of money.
        "See," said the devil, "how happy and prosperous you have become with my help. Now I would like to have my stick back."
        Well and good, he might have it.
        But the devil was not satisfied and started to bargain.
        "You could give me some of that money, too. Remember, you earned it only with my help."
        The man looked at him. "How can we count the money in the middle of the road? Come to my home tomorrow morning, and I will give you the money."
        Why not? The devil agreed.
        In the meantime, the man thought and planned, and planned and thought. He collected old pots, old drums, old basins. Then he invited his friends and neighbors to visit him early the next morning. When they arrived, the man asked them to play upon the posts, the drums, the basins. What a clamor there was! The earth resounded, and the din could be heard for miles around. As for the man, he went out to meet the devil. When the devil came sauntering down the road, the man took him by the hand and started to lead him toward the house. The devil stopped.
        "What is that dreadful din I hear? Who is making all of that noise?"
        "Oh, that din? That is only my bad=tempered wife. She got out of the hole and is so angry that there is no stopping her now."
        "Is that so?" exclaimed the devil. "Then I will not enter your house. I know her well enough. She is one from whom I cannot escape, not even into a crack in the wall. Keep the money and your wife! I am going back and will never return."
        With that, the devil ran down the road as fast as he could.
        And so it was that the husband was able to keep all of the money and spend the rest of his life without care.

Tit for Tat

The Bad-Tempered Wife

Beginning