Once upon a time, there was a woodsman and his wife. And they lived in a cottage in the deepest, darkest woods.
All night they trembled because robbers were in the woods, stealing from any cottage they could find.
The husband said to his wife, “Tomorrow, I must leave early to cut trees. Meet me in the woods at dinnertime, and we’ll go to the neighboring village.”
Next morning came, and before the woodsman left to cut trees, he told his wife, “Watch the door. I’ve always heard that the best way to prevent robbers is to watch the door. Then meet me at dinnertime in the woods.”
All day long, the woodsman cut trees, and his wife watched the door.
Noon came and went, and the woodsman was still cutting trees, and his wife was still watching the door.
When dinnertime approached, the wife had an idea. She took the door off its hinges and carried it with her through the woods to her husband.
“Look, husband,” she said. “I’ve brought the door with me so we can watch the door together and protect our cottage from robbers.”
The woodsman looked at her, amazed. “What a clever wife I have!” he said. And he was sincere in what he said.
And they lived happily ever after because they were so very much alike.
* Orlando Bartro is the author of Toward Two Words, a comical & surreal novel about a man who finds yet another woman he never knew, usually available at Amazon for $4.91.