‘Impossible!’ replied the mother, in order to enhance her daughter’s value; ‘she does all the work of the house, I can’t spare her; what shall I do without her?’
‘I must give you something to make up for the loss,’ replied the merchant; ‘but such a notable wife as this I have long been in search of, and I must not miss the chance.’
‘But I cannot spare such a notable daughter, either,’ persisted the mother.
‘What do you say if I give you five hundred scudi?’
‘If I let her go, it is not because of the five hundred scudi,’ said the mother; ‘it is because you seem a husband, who will really appreciate her; though I don’t say five hundred scudi will not be a help to a poor lone widow.’
‘Let it be agreed then. I am going now to the fair; when I come back let the girl be ready, and I’ll take her back with me.’
Accordingly, when the farmer returned from the fair, he fetched the girl away.
When he got home his mother came out to ask how his affairs had prospered at the fair.
‘Middling well, at the fair,’ replied the man; ‘but, by the way, I found a treasure, and I have brought her home to make her my wife. She is so hardworking that she can’t be kept from working, even on Sundays.’
‘She doesn’t look as if there was much work in her,’ observed the mother dryly; ‘but if you’re satisfied that’s enough.’