Chapter 132 131. The Slave Mother

Once upon a time there was a married couple who were wealthy tenant farmers who leased the land of a great nobleman in the province near Otranto.They have five sons.Every evening, after the farmer's wife finishes the housework and prepares dinner for those who go to work in the fields, she sits at her door and prays. One evening, as she was about to sign the sign of the sign of the cross, she heard an owl hooting. "Farmer's wife, farmer's wife, when would you like to be prosperous, young or old?" "My God!" exclaimed the farmer's wife, and hastily crossed herself.

This was the time when the men came home from the fields.They sat at the table and ate with relish.The poor woman was restless, and her husband and sons asked, "What's the matter?" She replied that she was not feeling well. The next evening, as she began to pray, she heard the owl hoot again: "When would you like to live a prosperous life, young or old?" The farmer's wife exclaimed, "Holy Virgin Mary! This is no joke!" She hurried to her husband and told him the story. The farmer replied, "Mother, if this happens again, tell the owl that you are willing to live a prosperous life in old age, because a person can deal with everything when he is young, but he can't enjoy it when he is old." would be excessive."

So when the owl hooted again in the evening of the third day, the farmer's wife said, "You are here again? I would like to live a prosperous life in my old age, do you hear me?" Time passed day by day.One evening, the husband and sons got tired of eating the same vegetables all the time and said, "Make us a salad with lettuce tomorrow if you can." The next morning the farmer's wife, wearing an apron with a deep pocket and carrying a knife, went out to dig up lettuce.Their land is on the strait, and they can look out to the sea from above.The farther she goes, the better the lettuce grows there.She said: "What a fresh lettuce! Tonight, my husband and children can have a good meal." She went to dig lettuce everywhere, walking farther and farther, wandering around by the sea.While she was stooping to dig a special kind of endive, some Turks sneaked up and grabbed her, dragged her to a boat, and made off in haste.She screamed and begged for mercy, but to no avail, they would not let her go.

Let's not talk about this woman crying to death, let's talk about her poor husband and sons.When they returned home in the evening, they found that the situation was abnormal, the door was closed, and there was no dinner outside the door.They called for the door, but no one answered, and finally had to break the door open.They couldn't find anyone at home, so they asked the neighbors.The nearby farmers said: "Yes, we saw her go out wearing an apron, but we didn't see her come back." Think how sad they were for father and son! After dark, they lit up lanterns and searched in the fields, calling, "Mother! Mother!" They went to the well to look for it, but they couldn't find it.Finally, they despaired and went home crying.

The father and son put on mourning clothes and attended the funeral for three days. After the funeral was over, they went to work in the fields as before. Two years later, their father and son wanted to plow a large piece of land and prepare to plant millet.Each of them took the oxen to the field and began plowing.When the old man was plowing, the point of the plow hit something in the ground.He bent down and pulled it out, but he couldn't pull it out, so he called his eldest son.They dug up the soil, and it turned out that the point of the plow touched an iron ring.They pulled hard on the hoop and pulled up

A large stone slab, under which is a room. The eldest son said: "Ah, Dad, I see something down there, can you let me go down?" The old man replied: "No, let's not touch it yet. Let's come again tonight and see what's down there." They went off to plow the field separately. In the evening, they called the hired long-term workers aside, invited them to drink, and let them drink enough.After the long-term workers fell asleep soundly, the old man and his five sons immediately returned to the big stone slab with lanterns.They lifted the slab and went into the basement, where they found seven pots full of gold coins.They were stunned, they looked at me, I looked at you, speechless, not knowing what to do.The old man said, "Don't just stand there dumbfounded, boys, run back and bring the carriage."

His sons ran back to get the carriage, loaded all the gold coins into the cart, and hid them at home. The next day, two years and a month after the poor farmer's wife had disappeared, the father and son went to the great nobleman's house, and said that they had lost their mind for farming, and decided not to rent and cultivate his land.They returned the land and farm implements to the master, fed the hired hands, and set off for Naples.When they got there, they took off their farm clothes and put on new and beautiful clothes, bought a luxurious house, and invited teachers to come to the house and teach them the manners and speech of superior people.Then, they go to the theater, or some other activity.The old man also wore braids, which was the custom at that time.They began to speak like Neapolitans, and even changed their names, for example, instead of "Renzo" or "Cora" they called "Don Pietrino", "Don Severugi" ; They choose whatever name sounds good to them.Past acquaintances would never recognize them again.

One day many years later, the five brothers happened to be together in the city square.There was a fair slave trade going on there, and the slaves sold included dark Moorish girls as well as white girls.Among them, there is a white girl who is particularly beautiful.As soon as the kids got home, they yelled, "Father, Father!" (They don't call "Daddy" anymore.) "Kids, what's the matter?" "We saw many beautiful slave girls, shall we buy one?" The father replied, "What? Do you want to bring a dirty woman into the house? No! If there is an old woman among them, we will buy her."

The old man came to the square himself and looked at the slaves carefully.He saw an old slave--looking very old now, from all the sufferings she had suffered in the past, and the work she had been forced to do. The old man asked the slave trader, "How much is this slave going to sell for?" "One hundred ducats." He paid and took her home.It was unbearable to see the poor woman in rags, so they bought her new clothes, and let her do the housework. The boys always went to the theater in the evenings, but the old man never went out.Every time the poor woman saw the five brothers go out, she sighed and cried.One night, after she sent the five young masters out the door with a lantern, she burst into tears when she came back.After hearing this, the master closed the book he was reading, and called her to him.

"Why do you sigh and cry when you see my son?" The slave girl said, "Sir, if you knew what I was thinking, you wouldn't ask me." The old man said, "Sit down and tell me." "Well, I wasn't a slave you bought. I married a farmer. Like my lord, I have five sons..." she went on.When it came to the story of her going out to dig raw meat and being taken by the Turks, the old man got up, took her in his arms, and kissed her. "Mother the child, mother the child, I am the farmer, the five This boy is your own son.We suffered for several years and thought you were dead.One day we made a fortune plowing the field.It seems that what the owl told you has come true. "

After being a slave for seventeen years, this kind woman miraculously found her husband and son. How happy she was! Just as the old couple embraced and told about the past sufferings, their son came back from the theater .Seeing the two old men hugging and kissing warmly, they said, "He still won't let us buy a young woman!" The father said, "Don't say that, kids. This is your mother. We miss her all these years." How happy her sons were! They hugged and kissed their mother over and over again, saying, "Mom, you have worked so much and suffered so much, and you will live well from now on. The servants dressed her in new clothes and made her look like a lady; in fact, she was a lady, wearing a muff in winter and fanning in summer. In this way, the old couple spent their happy old age comfortably and contentedly with everything. (Otranto area)