Rich parents had an only daughter, she was very beautiful and spoiled. But despite all her beauty and wealth, no one wanted to marry her, because people said that she had such a disease - it’s called “nors”: when a girl is not pleased with something, she immediately drops everything, goes to bed and lies there until her desire is fulfilled and she is appeased. One day, the groom came to her again to woo her - a young, wealthy owner. The mother praises her well-groomed child in every possible way, she says it’s a pity to part with her daughter, it will be hard to live without her; and the father, a simple-minded and honest man, says directly to the groom:
“If you like my daughter, then take her, since Lyma sent her, but so that you don’t remember me in a bad way, I’ll tell you in advance: she’s tormented by one illness—it’s called “norov.”
The young man thought a little and said:
- Okay, come what may, I’ll take it: where can you find a person without any flaws at all; Another time, a serious illness comes over me too.
- What kind of illness is this?
“If I happen to drink cold water on an empty stomach, I become mad until I eat.”
So they dressed up and talked about this and that, and finally decided that the girl with the temper and the guy with the madness should get married.
They got married and lived well - in peace and harmony. We lived like this for about a month, when the wife suddenly wanted to go to her mother. Her husband tells her to wait a couple of days, now, they say, is the hottest time, she needs to plow without straightening her back. He told her this, called a farm laborer and went with him to plow. Then the young woman fell ill with a “vehement” illness: she lay down in bed, and she had nothing to do with the housework. A farmhand girl comes and says - it’s time to cook and bring the afternoon snack to the plowmen, and the mistress lies in bed and just hisses like a snake, she won’t utter a word. The girl got scared and ran out of the hut.
The owner and the farm laborer are plowing, plowing and waiting for afternoon tea, but in vain, no one brings it. Then it occurred to the owner that his wife had fallen ill in the “burrow.” So he says to the farmhand:
“We’ll plow until it’s time for midday, and then we’ll go home; if the food is not prepared at home, then do what I tell you, and when I decide to beat you, then bury yourself under the bed.
OK. They have worked, come home and see: the hostess is lying in bed, there is no smell of food. The owner says to the farmhand:
- I’m tired, but I don’t want to, give me a mug of cold water to drink; I'll rest while the horses eat.
The wife heard this, and she even trembled with fear; she remembered her husband’s “rabies”; she would be glad to jump out of bed, but then next time her husband wouldn’t believe in her
illness. She remained lying in bed - there was no need to indulge her husband.
The owner took a sip from the mug and let’s walk around the hut, whistling. He walks and says:
- I have nothing to eat, why? -Am I really that poor? Am I too lazy to work? Or is there nothing left to cook in the house? Come on, little guy, give me some more water!
The owner drinks water, drank it all, and then the mug hits the floor, only shards fly in all directions. He walked around the hut even faster and spoke even louder:
- What a scoundrel you are, guy, my wife is lying in a hole, and he can’t even cook dinner for me - now I’ll teach you a lesson, you murderer!
Here he grabs the whip from the hook:
- I’ll teach you a lesson, you stoic cudgel! My wife is lying in bed, and you can’t cook dinner for me? Yes? – and went at the guy with a whip.
He, without hesitation, hid under the bed. And the “mad” owner hit the bed with a whip so that with one blow almost all of his “norm” flew out. But it doesn’t matter to the “mad”: he pulled his wife out of bed, threw her in the middle of the hut and beats her with a whip in vain, saying:
“My wife is lying in a hole, and you, damn brat, couldn’t even cook anything to eat!” Now hold on, I'll teach you a lesson!
The wife screamed and wailed, but her husband tore at her until she promised to get rid of her illness forever. Only then did the master let go of the mistress, throw down the whip, fall to the ground and begin to snore, shuddering in his sleep. The wife immediately rushed to light the fire and prepare a delicious afternoon snack for her husband. Then the farmhand crawled out from under the bed. And the hostess sobs and says to him in a whisper:
“And you were compelled to hide under the bed; couldn’t you have run out the door?”
- Yes, mistress, I had no idea that he would become so furious!
- It's because of the cold water. Why did you give it to him?
“So we were both tormented by thirst, but since you knew about this, then why did you allow me to give the owner cold water to drink!”
And then the owner woke up. He raised his head and said, looking around:
- Oh, my little head is cracking! Little one, give me some water to drink!
The wife immediately jumps up:
– Don’t drink cold water, hubby! Better yet, drink some warm milk; go to the table, you didn’t have a crumb in your mouth today!
The husband got up, sat down at the table, ate his fill and affectionately thanks his wife for a good afternoon snack.
Since then, the hostess has never had any problems with her and she always took care of her husband so that he would not drink cold water on an empty stomach.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru