The Foolish Husband

Once upon a time, there was a woman who had a foolish husband. He couldn’t do anything right—no matter what he tried, everything turned out crooked and wrong.

One day, his wife sent him to her relatives to fetch a loom. On his way back, he got tired and sat by the road to rest. Out of boredom, he started examining the loom. As he looked at it, he thought, “Why am I carrying you when you have four legs? Go on your own—you’ll get there faster than me.”

He set the loom down in the middle of the road and went home.

When he returned, his wife asked about the loom.

The fool replied:

“It’ll come by itself. It has four legs.”

His wife said:

“What are you talking about? How can a loom walk? Its legs are made of wood! Go back right now!”

But it was getting dark, so the fool decided to go the next morning.

The next day, he went to fetch the loom and saw that it was all wet from the dew.

The fool said:

“Poor thing! You must have been in such a hurry that you’re all sweaty.”

With that, he picked up the loom and carried it home.

Another time, his wife wove some cloth and told the fool to take it to the market.

As he walked along the road, he saw two posts standing there. The fool mistook them for people and started shouting:

“Hey! Who wants some cloth?”

Of course, the posts didn’t respond.

The fool shouted again:

“Buy some cloth!”

He walked up to the posts, laid the cloth down, and said:

“Here’s the cloth, now give me the money!”

Nearby, a goat was bleating: “Maa-aa!”

But to the fool, it sounded like: “No-o!”

The fool said:

“If I don’t get the money today, I’ll come back tomorrow!”

With that, he went home.

His wife asked:

“Who did you sell the cloth to?”

The fool replied:

“Two lads. They’re strange! They just stood by the road and didn’t say a word. But when I asked for money, they said ‘no-o’ right away.”

His wife questioned him further, figured out what had happened, and sent him back to fetch the cloth.

When the fool returned to the posts, the bundle of cloth was gone.

Suddenly, he saw a crowd of people walking down the road, all dressed in white, clearly attending a funeral.

The fool thought they had stolen his cloth and started shouting:

“Give me back my cloth, or I’ll beat you all up!”

The people heard him, ran over, and gave him a beating.

He returned home and complained to his wife, who said:

“You fool! That was a funeral procession. If you had helped carry the coffin, they wouldn’t have beaten you—they’d have thanked you.”

“Alright,” the fool replied, “I’ll be smarter next time.”

With that, he went for a walk.

As he walked, he saw some bearers carrying a decorated palanquin and shouted:

“Hey, you! Let me help you carry the coffin!”

The bearers heard him and gave him a beating.

He returned home, crying, while his wife chuckled:

“You’re so clueless! You mistook a wedding palanquin for a funeral bier. You should have smiled and clapped your hands.”

The fool replied:

“I’ll be smarter next time,” and went to sleep.

The next morning, he went outside and saw that the neighbors’ house was on fire. He ran over to watch. The fool liked the way the flames were roaring, so he smiled, clapped his hands, and started dancing.

Once again, he got beaten up.

As he walked home, he lamented:

“Poor me, so unlucky. Everyone beats me, and I can’t please anyone.”

His wife heard him, threw up her hands, and said:

“You fool! Who claps their hands at a fire? You should have grabbed a bucket of water and put out the flames!”

The fool listened and thought, “Next time I see a fire, I’ll definitely put it out.”

He walked through the village and came across a blacksmith’s forge. He saw the fire roaring and sparks flying everywhere. The fool grabbed a bucket of water and doused the flames. The blacksmiths ran over and beat him so badly that he barely made it home.

“Oh, you,” his wife said, “who puts out the fire in a forge? You should have hit the anvil with a hammer—the blacksmiths would have thanked you!”

The fool was delighted:

“That’s good to know. I’ll remember what to do next time!”

As he walked on, he saw two men fighting, swinging sticks and shouting loudly.

The fool ran over, grabbed a stick, and started hitting them.

The two men forgot about their fight and turned on the fool, who barely escaped with his life.

His wife said again:

“You fool, you simpleton! You shouldn’t have hit them—you should have broken up the fight.”

The fool remembered what his wife had told him, but it didn’t help: two bulls locked horns, and he tried to separate them.

One of the bulls tossed him with its horns and threw him onto a nearby wasteland. They only found the fool, barely alive, by evening.

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The Foolish Husband

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