It would be simply a shame, having told you, as I did recently, about the great Gob, not to return to him again to prove to you: no matter how wise he was, he still turned out to be no smarter than his wife. For true wisdom, her memory is honored.
Gob's father, even before he became famous for his wisdom, decided with his mother that the time had come for the young man to get married. And he went with Gob himself around Ireland to find a girl who would not be inferior in intelligence to the representatives of the family into which she was later to enter.
The old man asked each chosen one three questions to test and evaluate her intelligence.
How can you tell the top end of a stripped willow twig from the bottom, if the twig itself is only twelve inches long and the same thickness at both ends?
Who can take a whole flock of sheep to Ballinsloe fair and bring back both the flock and its value?
If I tell you to ride me in a chariot from Connacht to the court of the High King at Tara, how close will you come to the edge of the abyss in the Cruhan Mountains, but so that none of us. didn't you feel anxious?
All the girls proudly declared that the first two questions were insoluble, and did not allow themselves to be lured into this trap. As for the third, each tried to surpass the others in the art of driving a chariot and named how many inches from the abyss she could drive: some of them were only half an inch or even a quarter of a beat, and one - she already considered herself a winner - declared that she would whistle a jig when she passed only half a hair from the abyss!
And only one single girl, wise and witty, answered all three questions. She became Gob's wife.
She recognized the ends of the twig by throwing it into the river: the lower, heavier end went with the flow, and the upper, lighter end looked in the opposite direction.
She took a flock of sheep to the fair in Ballinsloe, sold their fleece - after all, this is their main value - and returned both the sheep and their value to the owner.
Well, she drove the chariot smarter than anyone else: she drove around each abyss as far as possible, as far as the width of the road allowed her.
“You will be a worthy wife for my son,” said the old man.
And in fact, she turned out to be worthy, which she managed to prove more than once. This is how she outwitted the King of Spain himself.
This happened at a time when this ruler, the most vain of all rulers on earth, decided to erect a palace that would eclipse all other palaces in the world. And for this, the only person who could carry out his plans was invited to Spain - the great Gob-an-Shor.
Not trusting the kings and their plans, Gob's wife did not want to let him go. But Gob, flattered and proud of such an honor, did not allow himself to be detained. Then she told him:
“Since you are leaving after all, I ask you very much, remember: when you arrive at the court of a great man, immediately make close friends with the women living there.” Don't even neglect the dishwasher! And you will often receive useful information. If you know what the scullery maid is thinking, you will know what her master is thinking. At night, the king tells his secrets to the queen. In the morning, the queen tells them to her servant. She, without wasting time, hands them over to the cook. And now a new night has not yet come, and already all the great secrets become the secret of any woman within one mile of the castle.
Gob remembered his wife’s instructions, and even before his work was halfway through, he already knew from the court maids that the very minute he completely finished the new palace, death awaited him. The king wanted to make sure that Gob would never build another king a palace that would surpass his own. But Gob remained silent until the new building - the most magnificent he had ever erected - was completed to the last stone.
- Ready? - asked the king.
“Done,” Gob replied.
- Well, did you succeed? - asks the king.
- The greatest success of my life! - Gob answers. “Only a little...
- What is it? - asks the king.
“Come here and take a look,” says Gob, inviting the king to come close to the wall where he stood. “Do you notice that, starting from the middle and further up, this wall has a slope?” Your mason was careless.
- I swear to heaven, you are right! - the king exclaimed, and no wonder: try to stand close to any tall building and look up, it will also seem to you that it is leaning. - And this cannot be corrected without destroying the entire building!
“I can fix it,” says Gob. “Fortunately, shortly before arriving here, I invented a tool just for such a case.” Tomorrow morning I'm going to pick him up in Ireland!
- Not you yourself! - says the cautious king. “Your life is too precious for the whole world and humanity, and I cannot allow you to risk it in the stormy sea in this weather.” I will send my servant!
“But this instrument is very valuable, and my wife will not entrust it to any servant,” Gob objected.
“Then I will send the chief commander of my personal guard,” says the king.
“She’ll give it only to me anyway,” says Gob.
- I won’t let you out, I swear to heaven! - exclaimed the king.
- Only for me! - And suddenly it dawned on Gob: - For me or the son of the king himself.
“Then my own son and heir will go!” - said the king. - Name me this instrument that my son - the joy of my heart - must ask from your wife.
After thinking for just a second, Gob replied:
“The instrument he must ask my wife for is called Kor-an-agoyd-ham.”
This name - Cor-an-agoyd-ham - Gob just came up with himself. Translated from the Gaelic, it meant "hook-and-rope" and was suitable not only for the name of the tool with which the work could be done, but also hinted at the dark intentions of the king. Gob hoped that his smart wife would understand when she heard his request that there was a mystery in it, and would solve it.
When Gob’s wife was visited not by her husband, but by the son of the Spanish king, she immediately became suspicious. And as soon as she heard that her husband was waiting for her with a hook and rope, she had no doubt at all that he had fallen into a trap.
And she decided to repay the treacherous king in kind.
“Well, prince,” she said, lifting the lid of a large chest that stood in the kitchen, “lean down and at the bottom of this chest you will find what my husband sent you for.”
And when he leaned over the edge of the chest, she took him by the legs and pushed him down, then slammed the lid and locked the chest. And she sent word to Spain that they would receive back into the trembling arms of their beloved crown prince at the very hour when her husband returned home.
And of course: both her husband and their prince were safely in their places in a very short time.
In the old days they said: When you are looking for a wife, you can leave your eyes at home, but take your ears with you.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru