ESL Blogs

I read this story in a newspaper and decoded to share. And I recorded my reading it. So you can read and listen to the story.https://audioboo.fm/boos/2191892-an-old-tale

It happened in old times when parents chose marriage partners for their children without even asking for their agreement. Divorces were not allowed either.

There lived a nice girl in one village. She was good-looking, hard-working and sweet-tempered. But – oh, bad luck for her! – she came from a poor family.

Love doesn’t differ between rich and poor, so this girl fell in love with the son of the head of the village. The guy was as handsome as he was rich. But - more bad luck for the poor girl – he was a bit of a rascal.

Knowing that she liked him, the guy tried to seduce the poor girl. She wouldn’t give in at first but eventually he tempted her by promising to marry her. It was settled between them that they would spend three nights together, and if the girl didn’t tell anybody about the promised marriage during those three days, the guy would ask her hand in the marriage season (which started right after the harvest time).

The guy was sure that the girl would be too happy to keep such a secret and he knew that women are fond of discussing love matters.

So they spent one night, then the other. It was summer and the girl slept in the verandah and it was easy for her lover to come unnoticed.

Early in the morning after the third night the girl hurried to her mother and told that she expected the son of the village head to become her husband because he had given a promise. She didn’t know that the guy had crept after her and heard every word. He walked away quietly smiling to himself.

Harvest time passed. The village head arranged a marriage for his son with the only daughter of some landowner from a distant village. The landowner was giving a considerable amount of land as dowry to his daughter.The wedding day was appointed.

In those old days the bride and the groom came to the church in separate carriages and after the ceremony they went together to their home.

The poor girl heard this news and went to meet the groom’s carriage. She managed to stop him a little distance from the church and accused him of broken promise. The guy replied coldly that she was the first to break the agreement and went by.

When the newly-weds were alone in their bedroom the girl asked her husband what had been the reason for his being late to the church. He told her the truth(there shouldn’t be any secrets between husband and wife, right?). The girl laughed heartily:”What a silly chatterbox! My father’s farm-hand was coming to me every night for three years and I never told a word to anybody! You are the first to know about it…”