A WITTY WIFE

"The Goban Saor was a mason and a smith, and he could do all things, and

he was very witty. He was going from home one time and he said to the

wife 'If it is a daughter you have this time I'll kill you when I come

back'; for up to that time he had no sons, but only daughters. And it

was a daughter she had; but a neighbouring woman had a son at the same

time, and they made an exchange to save the life of the Goban's wife.

But when the boy began to grow up he had no wit, and the Goban knew by

that he was no son of his. That is the reason he wanted a witty wife

for him. So there came a girl to the house one day, and the Goban Saor

bade her look round at all that was in the room, and he said 'Do you

think a couple could get a living out of this?' 'They could not,' she

said. So he said she wouldn't do, and he sent her away. Another girl

came another day, and he bade her take notice of all that was in the

house, and he said 'Do you think could a couple knock a living out of

this?' 'They could if they stopped in it,' she said. So he said that

girl would do. Then he asked her could she bring a sheepskin to the

market and bring back the price of it, and the skin itself as well. She

said she could, and she went to the market, and there she pulled off the

wool and sold it and brought back the price and the skin as well. Then

he asked could she go to the market and not be dressed or undressed. And

she went having only one shoe and one stocking on her, so she was

neither dressed or undressed. Then he sent her to walk neither on the

road or off the road, and she walked on the path beside it. So he said

then she would do as a wife for his son."

The Kiltartan History Book · 第 16 / 84 题