There was once an old woman who had three sons, tall like steeples and of virtue mighty

but dumb as fishes. The old woman had a plentiful household, with a fine piece of land, a stout manor and annexes, a vineyard and nice orchard, cattle and lots of poultry. Besides all this, she had also saved money for a rainy day as she was quite tightfisted and cheese-paring. Not to let her sons leave her side, she had two houses built on the right and on the left of the old one. And she also decided once and for all to keep her sons and her future daughters-in-law with her in the old house, not sharing with them whatever there was until she breathed her last. Thats what she did and her heart hummed with joy when she thought how happy she would be, having hers sons close by to help and the daughters-in-law to comfort her. An oftentimes she would say to herself: Ill keep a strict eye on the daughters-in-law, Ill make them work, and keep a tight rein on them, not letting them out of doors when my sons are away. Thats how my mother-in-law, may God rest her in peace!, behaved towards me. And my husband, may God forgive him!, could not complain I deceived him or squandered thingsalthough at times he did suspect me and kicked me somebut now its all water under the bridge! All three boys were engaged in carting and thus earned good money. The eldest was now just ripe for marriage so, feeling the time was right, the old woman went out like a hurricane and started looking for a bride; she scouted five or six villages and only with much trouble could she find a girl to suit her; tall and lean yet vigorous and obedient. The son humored his mother, so he got married, and the old woman put on the special mother-in-law garb, actually one with no neck opening at all which means that the mother-in-law is supposed to keep her mouth shut and never mutter or disagree in any thing. When the wedding was over, the sons went off to their business, and the daughter-in-law stayed behind with her mother-in-law. That very day, in the evening, the old woman began to make arrangements as to how her daughter-in-law should live her life. The young woman seemed to be getting in the old biddys way. Why did I rustle up a pair of tongs for myself? Not to burn my fingers! Right! she mused. So she climbed quickly to the attic and came down with a bag of feathers left there by her late mother-in-law, a few bales of hemp and half a quintal of millet. Look here, daughter, I reckon you could work nights very well. The mill is in the annex next door, the spindles in the wicker basket under the bed, and the distaff behind the chimney. When you get your fill of picking feathers, you can mill some corn flower so when your husband comes home well cook some stew with smoked pork ribs from the larder and gee, that will be some food! For now since you are so well rested, take the distaff and by tomorrow morning finish spinning all this, and also pluck the feathers and mill the corn flower. Ill go lie down a bit for your weddings taken all the oomph out of me. But you should know that Im a very light sleeper, and besides these two eyes I have another on my nape that always stays wide open, day and night, so I can see everything that is going on in the house. You got it right?

Yes, mother. Now I wonder is there anything to eat Eat? Theres an onion, some cloves of garlic and a piece of cold polenta on the shelf. That ought to be enough for a young wife like yourselfMilk, cheese, butter and eggs, those are to set aside and sell at the fairThe overheads of this house are now bigger with another mouth to feed and I dont want my arrangements screwed up! So, as darkness set in the old woman went to bed, facing the wall so that the light of the candle didnt bother her, making her daughter-in-law understand that shed keep that one eye on her. But she fell asleep instantly and was gone to this world. While her mother-in-law was sawing logs, the gentle daughter toiled in the house, now plucking the feathers, now spinning the hemp, now pounding the corn and husking it. And if she felt like Father Sandman was courting her she would dab her eyes with cold water and washed her face lest her sleepless mother-in-law saw her and guessed what she felt like. Thats how the poor young woman toiled long after midnight until she caved in the small hours and fell asleep amid the feathers, the spindles, the hemp and the corn. The old biddy who had turned in very early got up with the lark and began to rattle and roll pans and pots so that the poor daughter who had just dropped asleep had to rise too, willy-nilly, kiss her mothers hand and show her what she had done. Slowly, the old biddy licked the daughter in shape so that she felt quite content with her choice. After several days the men came in and the young wife, seeing her husband forgot her troubles! Not after long, the old biddy arranged the wedding of her second son and picked for him a woman that was the spitting image of the first daughter-in-law only that she was somewhat older and a little squinty but exceedingly industrious! After the wedding, the boys went out to their business and the girls stayed behind with their mother-in-law. As usual, she gave them loads of work to do and when the sun went down she went to bed, urging her daughters-in-law to be diligent and not fall asleep for she could surely see them with her never-tiring eye. The first daughter-in-law recounted to the other one about the all-seeing sleepless eye of their mother-in-law, and so they egged on each other and work went on smoothly and continuously. And their mother-in-law rolled in clover. But it seems that now and then good spells evil. Not after long the time came for the youngest son to get married. The old woman wanted by all means to have an inseparable troika of daughters-in-law of the same mettle. So she had already set her eyes on a girl. Yet many go to seek wool and come home shorn. One morning, mothers youngest son brings home a wife. The old biddy scratches her head, mumbles and grumbles but in the end she has to lump it, so they throw a big wedding and thats that! After the party, the men go out to their business and the daughters stay behind with their mother-in-law. The old woman gives them work aplenty and come night she jumps in bed as usual. The first two daughters, seeing the third not so eager to break her back slaving around the house, start explaining: Dont shy for mother sees you.

Hows that? Shes sleeping as far as I can guess. What kind of arrangement is this? We work hard and she snoozes? Never mind her snoring, replies the middle one, mother has an eye at her back and she sees everything we do. And then you dont know her, the stuff shes made of! An eye at the back?And she sees everything?The stuff shes made of? Now that youve mentioned this, tell me girls what stuff is there for us to eat? Not a lick or smell, dear sisterBut if you insist that youre hungry you can have a blob of polenta and some onion. Polenta and onion? Such preparations nobody in my family ever touched. How about some bacon, and butter, and eggs? Dont you have those in the larder? We have them all right, but they belong to mother. I believe what belongs to mother equally belong to us, and what belongs to us equally belongs to her. Girls, this is past merriment. You do your stuff here while I go fix something to eat, you know, something mighty good and Ill call you. Goodness, what are you talking about? the two daughters said. Why should we play with fire? You want the old hag to throw us out? Dont you worry. When she asks you things you blame it all on me and let me do the talking. Well, whatever, you do what you please but dont bring trouble on our heads. Come on, girls, you keep your mouths shut instead of babbling. I for one dont like peace but strife. And she goes out singing: Alack, a stupid man is no glory to his clan! In less than an hour theres a tray full of pies, a few chickens fried in butter, a big pot with cheese and cream and polenta, all ready to eat. And the youngest woman invites the other two to dinner. Come on, girls, you eat your fill and give praises to the Lord, while I go down to the cellar and bring some wine to go with the pies! After eating and drinking they felt like singing like drunk fiddlers: Mother-in-law, sour haw, Ripe all day in the sun Sweeter sure youll get none Ripe all autumn thereupon Youre still sour as a lemon. Ripe a summer and a year Youre still sour and so blear Go out Like the gout Come in Like black sin Sit with a bang Like a pang.

And they went on eating, drinking, and singing until they all fell asleep. When the old woman got up at dawn she couldnt find her daughters-in-law. She went out frightened, looking for them here and there and finally stepped into the hut and what did she see? The poor daughters were heavily mourning for their mother-in-lawFeathers floated about, crumbs crunched under the feet, pots and pans lay all over the place, and a barrel of wine stood empty and titled. Well, a revolting sight! Whats this? the old woman shouted fearfully. The daughters-in-law rose like a shot and started trembling, their heads down for shame and fear. But the one in charge made no bones about anything and said: Well, mother dear, you know that my folks were here and we cooked something for them and gave them some wine from the cellar and then we made merry a little. They just left. And the in-laws saw me sleep? They sure did, mother dear! But why didnt you wake me up? The plague on you all! But mother dear, the girls told me you see everything and so I reckoned you must be angry with pa and ma since you did not get up. And they were so disappointed that the food didnt agree with them very good. You trollops, Ill mop up the earth with you! And from that moment she made life an unbearable hell for her daughters-inlaw. Whenever she remembered her plump, juicy chicks, the wine from the cellar, the way her savings had gone down the drain and on top of everything the fact that her in-laws had seen her laying sprawled all over the bed, she felt she could burst with anger and for that she needled her daughters like a thousand pins. Even the two older daughters-in-law had their fill of the old hags bitchiness; the youngest seized the opportunity to settle the whole business and also the matter of the heritage once and for all: Dear in-laws, she said one day when they were alone in the vineyard. We can no longer live in this house unless we get rid of the old hag. Hows that? You do what I tell you and never you mind. What can we do? the oldest asked. We barge in on her. Then you pull her by the hair and bash her head on the eastern wall as hard as you can; and you do the same on the western wall. Then what Ill do to her youll see. And what do we do when our men come home? You play possum and never open your mouths. Ill deal with them and dont you worry. The two women agreed and they all entered the house, took the hag by her hair and rammed her head on the wall until it cracked. Then the youngest one, being the naughtiest of the three, took the old hag down and trampled her under her feet and then pulled her tongue out, pierced it with a needle and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. So that the old woman got bloated and swollen and could not utter

a single word! And all beaten up and poorly, she fell ill and took to her dying bed. The daughters-in-law, taking the advice of the youngest, placed the old woman in clean bed sheets so that she remembered the time when she was a young bride, and then began to take rolls of cloth out of the old hags chest and, goading each other, they began to prattle about sickle, bier, coffin, last rites and funeral customs, ghosts and other frightful goons so much that only hearing all this could have sent the old woman to an early grave. And at long last their greatest dream was coming true! While they were celebrating they heard carts squeaking, meaning their men had arrived home. They went out to meet them at the gate and, as the youngest had advised, they started petting and cajoling and caressing them as best they could. Hows ma, the men asked all of a sudden while they were unyoking the oxen. Ma, the youngest started before the other two could say a thing, ma is not so well; in fact, shes not well at all, the poor thing. What do you mean? barked the men fearfully, letting go of the harnesses. Well, therere five or six days since she took the calves grazing and a bad wind must have caught the poor soul! The bad witches sealed her mouth and weakened her feet. The men dashed into the house to their mothers bed but the woman was so puffed up that she could not even open her mouth. Anyway, she was not dead to her senses and seeing them she moved a little her hand pointing first to the oldest daughter and to the eastern wall, then to the middle daughter and the western wind, and in the end to the youngest one and to the middle of the house. After which she could hardly take her hand to her mouth that she went into a deep faint. They all wept terribly and could not make out what their mother signified. Then the youngest daughter, feigning to be sobbing, said: You dont understand what ma wants? No, they replied. On her dying bed poor ma bequeaths the eastern house to the eldest brother, the western house to the middle brother, and to us, the youngest, this very house. Gee, youre clever woman, her man agreed. And as the other ones too reckoned she had translated well the old womans wishes, the heritage was thus bequeathed. The hag died that very same day and the daughters, disheveled, mourned for her so loud the whole village could hear them. After two days of lying in state they buried her with a great pageant and all the women in the village and in the neighborhood kept on talking about the mother with three daughters-in-law, exclaiming: Happy she to have died having the three of them to mourn for her!