Section 1
Once upon a time, there lived a farmer who possessed an extremely tight and miserly nature. He had such a strong aversion to spending money that he found it difficult to even nourish himself. The idea of giving anything to anyone was completely unthinkable to him. Furthermore, he desired to train his wife to endure hunger as well. However, his wife's fate mirrored that of the pedlar's mare; she met her demise due to excessive adherence to his frugal philosophy. Consequently, he was compelled to seek a replacement for his late wife.
Despite his unappealing nature, there were numerous young women who sought to please him and take over where his deceased wife had left off. It is important to note that he was wealthy, despite his unattractive appearance, and it was his wealth that these women desired. They were well aware that they would have to endure some hardships in exchange for their pursuit of his riches.
However, the farmer found no satisfaction with any of these women because even if they ate very little, they would eventually desire more food. The ones who were attractive and well-built would be costly to maintain, and the ones who were slim and slender would inevitably have a hearty appetite, consequently, despite searching throughout the entire parish, he was unable to find a suitable partner who met his specific requirements.
Fortunately, a young lad on the farm came to his aid. He had learned about a girl from a neighboring parish who had the remarkable ability to sustain herself on an incredibly small amount of food, she could make a single pea last for two meals.
The farmer was delighted upon hearing about this girl, she was exactly the kind of girl he desired. Despite her partial deafness, which caused her to only hear half of what people said to her, he wasted no time in expressing his proposal to her. Her parents readily agreed to the match, recognizing the farmer's wealth, and it didn't take him long to convince the girl herself to accept his offer. Realizing that she needed a husband at some point, they solidified their agreement, and the farmer entered into his second marriage, officially tying the knot with the girl.
After some time, the farmer became curious about how his wife managed to sustain herself, as he noticed that she never consumed any food or even drank water. He considered this to be incredibly little for survival. However, despite her lack of apparent nourishment, she appeared to be thriving and even gaining some weight, which puzzled him further.
"I wonder if she's deceiving me?" he pondered.
One day, as he was returning home from working in the fields, he coincidentally encountered his wife. She was walking back from the cowshed, carrying a container of milk.
"I wonder if she doesn't take a sip of the milk when she's straining it," he speculated. With this suspicion in mind, he requested the assistance of the young lad to help him climb up onto the roof and open the damper. His intention was to look down the chimney and observe what his wife was up to.
Determined, he ascended to the roof and carefully positioned his head down the chimney, attempting to catch a glimpse and gather as much information as possible.
The lad promptly went inside to inform his mistress of the situation.
"Master is currently peering down the chimney," he informed her.
“Down the chimney?” said the wife. “Well, then you must put some faggots on the hearth and make a fire.
"I dare not," expressed the lad, apprehensive about the consequences.
"If you won't, I will," responded the woman resolutely, she proceeded to light a fire and gently blew into it, encouraging the flames to grow.
As the smoke billowed up the chimney, the farmer started shouting, as he was almost suffocating from the fumes.
"Bless me, is that you, husband?" exclaimed his wife.
"Yes, of course it is," replied the farmer.
"What are you doing hanging there?" she asked.
"Oh, I was longing for you so much, my dear," he explained, "that I took the shortest route." With those words, he lost his grip and tumbled down the chimney, landing on the hearth. Unfortunately, he ended up sustaining burns in the process.
Several days passed, and during this time, the farmer's wife continued her unusual behavior of neither eating nor drinking, strangely, she neither gained weight nor lost weight.
"I wonder if she secretly consumes some bacon when she goes to the storehouse," he speculated. Driven by curiosity, he sneaked into the storehouse and tore open one end of a sizable feather bed that was stored there. He then climbed inside the bed and requested the lad to sew the ticking back together, concealing him within.
