45. Wise wife, stupid husband

Long time ago, that had a woman working as a weaver. She was clever woman but had an idiot husband. One day, she gave rolls of cloth to his husband and said: “Sell them only if people pay two hundreds and forty coins  a roll.”
The husband went to market to sell he spent much time staying at market, inviting people to take a look his cloth but he didn’t sell any roll. Till an old man came and bought two rolls but he didn’t bring money. Therefore, the old man said to him:
“Come to my home to get your money after you finish. My home is also in this village.”
“Where is your home?”, asked the husband.
“I live in a place which has a crowded market without sellers, has flutes spread tunable noise by themselves and has one-knot bamboo tress.”, said the old man then he went.
Late afternoon the husband pucked up his cloth and went to find the old man. He asked people about the place the old man had described but none knew the place had crowded market without seller, had flutes spread tunable noise by themselves and had one-knot bamboo trees.
“I have seen a scammer.”, he thought.
Went around but till it was dark he also didn’t find anything. He had to come home, cried.
“What’s up?”, said his wife.
The husband said his wife about the old man who bought his rolls.
“It is not difficult to find his house,” she added “The crowded market without sellers is a school and the flutes spread tunable noise by themselves are reeds as wind went cross, and one-knot bamboo trees are onion plants or garlic plants.”
Next day, the husband followed his wife’s works and found the old man who was a teacher.
“How can you find me?” asked the teacher.
“I have found you for a long time, asked many people but I can get nothing. Fortunately, my wife know this place.”, said the husband.
“She is clever woman.”, thought the teacher. Coincidentally that day the teacher had a party so he invited the husband to stay and participate in the party. The husband joined and ate rudely from beginning to ending of the party. When he left the teacher gave him his money, a refection for his wife and a package which also was sent to his wife. The package had a jasmine flower stood on a lump of buffalo feces. The husband didn’t know what it's mean but he still brought all things came home.
As the wife saw she understood immediately that the teacher sneered: “The clever wife has an   idiot husband as a jasmine flower stood on a lump of buffalo feces.”  
She spent more time thinking she felt more sadly. She thought about her fate had an idiot husband then had to get sneers. Then tears dropped from her eyes. She stopped weaving ran to   riverside and planed to jump down.
About the teacher, he felt so worry about the wife I thought the wife could harm herself after his joke. He felt he was so bad. Therefore, he found a fish basket having a big hole in bottom, gabbed it and fishing rod went to riverside. He went along the riverside and saw a woman was crying be the riverside he knew immediately that was the wife. Then he pretended went nearer, let the wife see his basket then shouted:
“Go away, I fish here.”, said the teacher.
The wife look up the old man and saw the man who had two colors n his hair brought a leaked basket to fish.
“He is so idiot that my husband is more intelligent than.”, she thought. She felt relived and gave up ending her life then came back her house.
The teacher saw the wife went away he also came back his house.
This strory expesses why ancient vietnamese people often said: "The clever wife has an idiot husband as a jasmine flower stood on a lump of buffalo feces". It is a sneer.
The end.🎭🎭🎭
"Translated by Hung Nguyen"
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List of Vietnamese fairy tales

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