Once there was an old lady, who was walking down the street, when someone stepped on her shoe and broke it.
She began limping around and looking for any shoemaker who might sew and fix it, until she found one.
– “Good morning,” she said.
– “Good morning to you,” said the shoemaker.
– “Would you fix this shoe?”
– “Of course!”
He took the shoe and fixed it while she waited by the threshold.
– “How much do I owe you, my son?”
– “No, ma’am. You don’t owe me anything.”
– “No, how much does it cost?” she asked.
– “You don’t owe anything. But would you do me a favor? “
– “Sure, if I can, why not?”
– “Well, I’m a stranger to these parts and an unmarried man, and I would really like to be married. Would you find me a suitable girl?”
– “Why not? I will see, my son.”
– “But, let me tell you the only condition I have. I will give fifty thousand cash for her hand and she need not worry about making preparations nor bringing any furniture. I only want the girl, and on the wedding night, I don’t want a party or any invitees. I will send you a horse carriage to bring the girl.”
– “I will see.”
The old lady went on her way, thinking about whom she would choose, and who would deserve a sum like that. Fifty thousand back then would not only enrich one poor person but a whole neighborhood. She recalled a neighbor of hers who was a very poor widow and mother of three unmarried girls at the age of marriage and who lived off what she made working with wool. So, she visited her.
– “Will you wed one of your daughters to someone who’s proposing?” asked the old lady.
– “If he’s a well-mannered suitable man, why not? One who will protect and care for her…but, you know my situation, aunty. I can’t afford to prepare anything or throw a wedding. The girl will only have her suitcase to bring along.”
– “Don’t you worry about this. The man isn’t asking for anything himself, he said he will even give fifty for her.”
As the lady was poor, and that fifty would be about fifty thousand dinars nowadays, she was shocked at the amount of money which she would had never even seen in her dreams.
– “She’s his,” she said.
So, the old lady went and told the man. Then they all went to draft and sign the marriage contract. He gave them the money and said:
– “I suggest that the wedding be on Thursday night. The bride shall be ready and waiting, along with the old lady, until the horse carriage arrives to bring them.”
The mother took the money, and that night she bought all the food she wanted, including 3 pounds of meat and they had a great time. The next day, she went to buy all the necessary items for her daughter.
Thursday night came and the old lady was there with them waiting since the afternoon. In the evening, the horse carriage arrived. The bride came out and, hugging and crying, took leave of her mother and sisters. Then she went along with the old lady and got in the carriage. Bit by bit they rode, until they made it to the shoemaker’s shop. The door was opened and the old lady let the bride in.
– “Here my son,” she said, “here is your bride. I wish you a great life and all happiness.”
– “Don’t stay away for too long, aunty. Come again tomorrow morning.”
She left and he closed the door.
– “Hello, my lady,” he said, “you are most welcome, come in.”
She turned around and was wondering how she would come in. It was a shoemaker’s workshop. It was too small and the little table there, which wouldn’t even reach her knees, was divided into sections full of hanging screws, nails, and other shoemaking materials.
He pulled out a chair that was rusted, and said:
– “You can sit here, my lady.”
She looked up at him, looked at the chair, and then sat on its edge. He pulled out from under the table a plate with some olive oil and some pieces of olive along with a green pepper and half a lemon. He gave her a piece of bread and invited her to have dinner. She clearly wasn’t pleased and said:
– “I am full.”
He then turned around without saying a word, pulled out a piece of shoe and started to sew it. He continued in the same manner, one shoe after another, until at the end of the night, he said:
– “I wonder, girl, will you be by my side as time passes? Or will I be left on my own in this life?”
– “Your life is your own,” she said. “It doesn’t concern me.”
He didn’t answer and returned to his work. He worked all night sewing and repairing shoes, while she sat still in the chair, yawning and trying to handle her back pain. The morning came and the old lady knocked on the door:
– “Good morning,” she said. “I hope you’re having a great day.”
– “Excuse me aunty, but I will be needing another favor from you.” the man replied.
– “Is everything alright?”
– “Will you do me a favor? Stand there and look for a horse carriage, then bring it to me.”
As she brought the carriage, he said:
“Take the girl to her mother, she’s now divorced.”
The old lady got in with the girl and brought her home.
– “Here is your daughter, ma’am.” said the old lady.
– “What! What happened? Is everything alright?”
– “I have no idea.”
And she left.
A week passed, or maybe it was 10 days or two weeks, and the old lady passed by the workshop.
– “Good morning, aunty.” said the shoemaker.
– “Good morning to you.”
– “Will you find another woman for me?”
– “What? But you just got divorced.”
– “So what? You never know what fate has in store.”
He kept on her until she said:
– “Alright, I will see.”
He said:
– “My one condition is still the same, and so is the money.”
Then she left, thinking whom would she choose … What about the sister of that girl, but would her mother accept?
– “Let me go and see, who knows.” she said.
So she went again to the mother and suggested the proposal. When the mother accepted, they drafted and signed the marriage contract, and she took the money.
On the wedding night, the old lady brought the bride in the horse carriage to the shoemaker. And so the same thing happened, and this second girl was also divorced on the next day.
Two weeks passed, and as before the shoemaker asked:
– “Would you please find me a woman?”
– “You can’t be serious, it didn’t work out with the first or the second, and you left me humiliated before the mother.”
He begged and insisted until she accepted. But whom would she choose this time?
– “I will see about the third girl.” she said. She went to the mother.
– “No way,” said the mother. “This man just divorces women. I will never accept his proposals again.”
– “But, mom.” said the girl, “Why won’t you let me try my luck? Or do you want me to stay unmarried until I am old?”
– “What? Didn’t you see what happened with your sisters?”
– “So what? That’s not my problem, to each their own fate.”
– “Alright then.”
The mother accepted. On the wedding night, the old lady brought the bride as usual in the horse carriage to the workshop, then took leave of them and went on her way. The shoemaker welcomed the bride in the same way as her sisters, pulled out that same rusted chair, and she sat down.
– “Hello.”
– “Hello, sir.”
– “You are welcome here.”
– “Thank you so much, sir.”
He pulled out that same plate and a piece of bread and said:
– “Here is your dinner.”
She came closer, cut the bread and started to eat. She added the green pepper to the oil, cut the lemon and found it all very delicious.
“It’s very delicious,” she said. “Here, sir, aren’t you going to eat?”
He sat down and started to eat with her. After they finished eating, he said:
– “I wonder, will you be by my side as time passes? Or will I be left on my own in this life?
– “What? Why would you be alone? I will always be by your side. You’re my man and my husband, money won’t ever be a problem as you’re always going to be able to make it. Even if your work isn’t going well, I have my own work with wool. And you’re always going to be my man and no one will ever know your real situation and what’s happening in your home until everything gets better or even if everything stays the same.”
– “But you know I only have this small workshop and as you see, it can’t even hold two people.”
– “But what’s enough for one, is enough for two. We’re doing fine and everything will be just alright.”
At that moment, he stood up. There was a door behind him, which she hadn’t seen. It had been hidden by a rug. So he lifted it up, opened the door and said:
– “Come in.”
She entered, and there she found a stunningly large house and a vast garden along with four symmetric rooms. It was something like heaven. Chandeliers were shining along the ceiling and it was decorated with astonishing carpets and furniture, and the table was fully set with food. There were servants all around her. They brought her to a room and dressed her up with gold until she shone yellow, and with pearls until she beamed white. Then, Mr. Shoemaker came in, well-dressed and elegant in a new suit.
– “You shall be my wife for all eternity,” he said. “I have tried and have not found another woman like you who deserves all of this. A woman, in order to live well with her man, has to stick with him through thick and thin, until God brightens her life.”
