In which we celebrate Saturday Stories: a little wisdom tale

Here's a sweet little tale your mom wishes you knew. Maybe you should call her and share the story? Or maybe there's a kid you know who needs to hear it? Go ahead. I'll leave it right here for you. --A

Choosing a Wife
A man wanted his son to choose a wise, good, and kind wife.

The man told his son to give this question to any woman he might want in his life:
"If you had a big fish, how could you feed your family as long as possible?”

The young man travelled all over the country, asking this question to all the women that he met.

One woman said that she would feed the fish only to the adults in the family, and let the children suck on the bones.

Another woman said that she would make soup of the fish, and store the soup in a big pot in the frozen river with rocks on top to keep the bears away.

Yet another woman proposed to smoke the fish to preserve it through the winter so that her family could eat a bite of fish for many weeks.

Many women were asked the question, and each had a different answer.

But none of the answers seemed quite right to the young man.

Finally, the young man returned home, and spoke with the girl who had grown up next door to his own house. He realized that, in his haste to find a wife, he had not asked the question of the woman closest to home!

He asked her the question:
“If you had a big fish, how could you feed your family as long as possible?”

The girl said, "First I would cook the fish with many vegetables to make a great deal of food. Then I would give some to my relatives, some to my neighbors, and some to my friends.

"Then when THEY had a big fish, they would bring some to share with me. So it would be that one big fish would feed my family for a long, long time."

This was the right answer.

So those two married and lived happily ever after.