The Picture Wife

        Once upon a time there was a man whose name was Gombei. He was poor and rather weak in the head. He lived in a hut all by himself. No one would marry hi, because he was so simple minded.

        Then one evening, a young woman came to his door and asked if she could spend the night in his hut. Such a beautiful woman Gombei had never seen before and he was only too glad to let her in. that night after supper, the young woman said, “It seems that you live here alone. I am alone too. Would you like mo for your wife? “

        Gombei could not believe his good fortune! And so they were married.

        Gombei’s marriage made him very happy, but it also made it very difficult for him to get his work done. He was so fond of his young wife that he could not bear to turn his eyes away from her, not even for a moment. When he made straw sandals, they often became six feet long before he noticed, for he kept his eyes on his wife and not on his work. When he made straw raincoats, they were sometimes ten or twenty feet long, for he watched to see what his wife was doing instead of paying attention to what he was doing himself. No one could wear his sandals or his raincoats.

        Then he went into the fields to work. Every few minutes, he came running home, shouting “Are youy there, dear wife?” So he did not accomplish much in a day.

        “Simply won’t do!” said his wife. So she went to the town and asked an artist to paint her portrait. She took it home and told Gombei, “ Here is my picture . hang it on the nearest mulberry tree. If you can see it while you are working in the fields, you won’t miss me so much”.

        Gombei did as he was told. Every few minutes, he stopped work to look at his wife’s portrait, but he no longer ran so often. One day, however, a sudden gust of wind caught the picture and blew in into the sky. Gombei tried to catch it, but soon it was out of sight. Crying bitterly, Gombei ran home to tell his wife. “Never mind, dear husband,” she confronted him. “I will go to town and have another picture painted for you.”
        in the meantime the first picture had gone on floating along in the air until finally came fluttering down in the garden of a castle. When the lord of the castle saw it, he immediately fell in love with the woman in the picture. “If there is a portrait, there must be a person,” he thought, and he ordered his men to find the woman and bring her to him without delay.

        The men went from village to village with the picture, asking if anyone knew the woman. At last they came to the village where Gombei lived. “Do you know this woman?” they asked the villagers, showing them the picture.

        Sure enough, when the men went to Gombei;s hut, there they found a beautiful woman who looked exactly like the one in the portrait.

        “We’ll take her to our lord,” they said and they tried to carry out her off.

        “Please don’t take here away,” begged gombei, but all his begging was in vain. He cried so much that his tears made a pool a foot across.

        “Don’t cry so, Gombei,” said his wife. “We can do nothing now, but listen carefully. You must come to the castle on New Year’s Eve. Bring pine trees for the New Year gate decorations when you come. Then we’ll be able to see each other again and all will be well,”

        Before she could say anything more. she was taken away to the castle. Everyday, Gombei wondered if it was time to go yet. At last someone told him that it was New Year’s Eve. He started for the castle with a huge bundle of pine trees on his back. Hew would soon see his clear wife again!

        When he reached the castle gates, he shouted, “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees for the New Year!”

        Inside the castle, his wife heard him and smiled. It was the first time she had smiled since she was brought into the castle. The Lord was so pleased to see her cheerful that he ordered his servants to call the pine seller in.

        When Gombei appeared, his wife looked even more cheerful. She beamed at him with much delight that the lord thought to himself, If a pine-seller can please her so much, I will become one myself.”

        He ordered Gombei to change clothes with him. Dressed shabbily as a pine-seller, he walked up down in the garden shouting, “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees for the New Year!”

        This made Gombei’s wife even more pleased. She clapped her little hands and laughed heartily. The lord was so delighted to see her laugh that he danced about in the garden with the pine trees on his back. , “Pine trees, pine trees! Fine pine trees” he shouted again and again. Round and round the garden he danced, and out of the castle gates he went without even noticing.

        As soon as he was outside, Gombei’s wife told the servants to shut the gates of the castle. After a while, the Lord realized that he was no longer in the garden. He went up to the castle gates and to his astonishment, he found them closed. “Let me in, let me in!” he shouted, but no one answered.

        Within the castle gates, Gombei and his clever wife now had everything they could wish for and lived happily ever after.

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Reaction:

A poor and wicked man cannot marry a beautiful woman nowadays. It is only in fantasy wherein this story will come true.

        In this generation, a beautiful woman dream of marrying a rich, handsome and intelligent man. She will use her face as an asset to fulfill her dreams. Maybe only one in a million woman today who will aspire for a poor, ugly and unwitty man. Of course, no woman wanted to experienced hardships in life, she has to do everything to meet and marry a man whom she can lean on and provide her a luxurious life.

        There are only a few who wants to marry a poor, ugly and wicked man.

        For me, if I were to choose, I’d rather use my common sense in selecting the woman whom I can be with the rest of my life. We will be together forever so, I must choose a woman I like and love very much. I have to consider first, the attitude. She must possess the qualities of a good woman, her values, the way she deals with others. She must not be too ugly, she is presentable. Whenever we are in gatherings I am proud of her not hiding her in front of the public.

        But today, if you are wealthy, it is easier to get a woman whom you like most. It is because if you have money and power you are ahead to anybody. You will not be hard up in getting the person you want.

        From the story, the poor and wick man married a pretty woman. Maybe this woman did not exist because it is only in dreams and fantasy wherein this love story happened in real life, it does not happen.

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