Once upon a time there lived a husband and his wife in a big village. They lived amicably, not even saying a harsh word to each other. The husband worked in the fields from sunrise to sunset, and his wife kept their house, spinning wool, weaving cloth or cleaning up the courtyard. When the tired man came home after a long day's work, his wife would greet him with a smile on her face and with dinner on the table. The villagers admired her modesty and behaviour in such a manner. All the people deeply appreciated her intelligence and kindness. The days would go with blows given and taken; there passed the months, the years, and fame of the good woman eventually spread far away.
One day the wife of a village headman heard about that woman and nearly burst with anger:
"What is there so special, is she really better than anybody else? Why is she reckoned a wise woman and people cannot stop giving praise to her? I would rather die but find her and have a look at her!"
For a long time the wife of the headman had been waiting for a chance to get out of the house. Once it happened that her husband went to town for a few weeks, for the community. As soon as he went outside the gate, his wife dressed in rags and set off in search of that wise woman. She walked along the street to one house, to another, and finally, asking people, found the right house.
She pretended to be poor, knocked on the door and asked for alms. The hostess opened the door, gave reasonable alms to the poor woman and continued to work. The wife of the headman looked into the yard and saw that the woman was sitting in the sun and spinning wool. There was a piece of stale bread lying nearby and water in a pot warmed by the sun.
"Sister, why are you sitting in the sun, not in the shadow of a tree?" - asked the headman's wife.
"At this time my husband is mowing wheat in the field under the scorching sun," - said the woman. - "He has nowhere to hide in the shadows. He has nothing to eat but some stale bread and nothing to drink but some warm water. Why should I feel better than he could? As he is feeling, so I am doing. Otherwise, I cannot understand what kind of man my husband is, and I cannot feel that he has a tough row to hoe. And true, my husband, having seen my loyalty, is paying me with his love!"
"Dear sister, please, give me some good advice to make my husband love me more," - asked the headman's wife. She wanted to check prudence of the good woman.
"The case is not so simple," - replied the woman, - "I can teach you if you bring me several hairs from the lion's head."
Since that day, the headman's wife had been looking for a lion, and finally she learned that some of them were kept in a zoo of Padishah (the king). She decided to pursue the case. She left her home in neighbours' keeping and went to the capital to visit her sister that lived not far from the zoo...
One day the headman's wife came to the zoo and saw terrible lions sitting in their cages. She trembled with fear at the mere sight of them! For a long time she was thinking and making guesses about how to make her work, and then she decided to feed one of the lions herself every day.
Having overcome her fear, the woman asked for guard's permission and began to visit the most stable lion for two or three times a day. The first day she just knelt down beside the cage and prayed silently. The next day she said her prayer in a low voice. On the third day she threw a piece of meat into the cage and changed the water in a drinking bowl. A considerable amount of time had passed there, before she dared, quietly and gently murmuring, to stroke the lion's back and tail.
After a little while, the headman's wife grew bolder and stroked the lion's head. She saw that the lion began to recognize her. Not daring to admit to herself, the woman felt sympathy for the king of beasts that was forced to spend his life behind the bars. One day, stroking the lion's head, she pulled out three hairs from his moustache...
Some days later she came to the good woman and showed her the lion's hairs.
"How did you manage to pull the moustache of such a ravenous beast, like a lion?" - asked the good woman.
The headman's wife told the woman, how she had been treating the lion to tear off those hairs.
"Dear sister, go to your husband and cope with him like you were treating the lion. Your husband would love you, but not torment you with his indifference." - said the good woman.
Since then the wife of the headman began to influence her husband with care as had advised the good woman. The headman was vaguely surprised by the whole thing but then became very happy. And his wife received evidence that her advice-giver was actually a wise woman.
![The Wise Woman [Славянский Владимир Владимирович]](/img/s/slawjanskij_wladimir_wladimirowich/thewisewoman/thewisewoman-1.jpg)