THE CLEVER HUSBAND🧟‍♂️

 

THE CLEVER HUSBAND

A Short Tale by Babayo U. Kabir

The old man gathered the children under the wide shade of the ancient baobab tree to tell them a funny story. He cleared his throat, adjusted his walking stick, and began:

“Once upon a time, in a remote village deep within the rainforest, there lived a newly-wedded couple — a young man and his beautiful wife. But their marriage was far from peaceful, for the wife’s sister — his sister-in-law — visited them almost every day!”

The children giggled.

“She was always around,” the old man continued, “poking her nose into everything. The young husband hardly had any breathing space to enjoy his new life with his bride. What made matters worse was that his wife dearly loved her sister — after all, they grew up together under the same roof.”

The man grew weary of this constant intrusion and finally decided he had to act. One day, he devised a clever plan.

He went to the market, bought a fine chicken, and brought it home.
‘My dear wife,’ he said, handing her the bird, ‘prepare this chicken for our lunch. I’ll be back soon.’
Just as he had hoped, his sister-in-law arrived not long after he left.

She greeted politely and complained that her children had been disturbing her at home and that she needed some peace to take a nap. The wife, ever the good host, welcomed her warmly. The aroma of the cooking chicken filled the house, and before long, the sister-in-law dozed off on the mat in the living room.

When the wife finished cooking, she waited for her husband to return so they could eat together. Feeling a bit drowsy, she too decided to take a short nap.

Now, the husband had timed everything perfectly.
He returned quietly while both women were sound asleep. Moving stealthily into the kitchen, he lifted the lid of the pot — and there it was, the deliciously cooked chicken. He smiled, sat down, and ate every piece of it!

When he was done, he gathered all the bones into the same pot, washed his hands inside it, and placed the pot gently in front of his sleeping sister-in-law. Then, satisfied with his mischief, he tiptoed out of the house as silently as he had entered.

Hours later, the wife awoke. She rubbed her eyes and immediately noticed the pot sitting near her sister.
“That’s strange,” she murmured. “Why is the pot here?”
She opened it — and to her shock, it was filled with chicken bones!

“The chicken! My chicken!” she cried, furious.
She struck her sleeping sister sharply on the shoulder. The poor woman woke up in confusion, blinking at her sister’s angry face.

“Why are you hitting me?” she asked, startled.

“I think I should be the one asking you that question, sister,” the wife snapped, pointing to the pot. “Where is the chicken I cooked?”

The sister-in-law, baffled, looked from the pot to her sister, to the pot again — and was too stunned to speak.

"From that day, she never set foot in the house again." 


The children under the baobab erupted in laughter, slapping their thighs and clapping at the old man’s clever twist.

He nodded with a knowing smile and concluded,
“My children, always remember — in life, wisdom is not just knowing what to do, but when to do it.”

Moral: Create and utilize opportunities to achieve your goals in life.

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