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Once upon a time, in a very hot country, a man lived with his wife
in a little hut, which was surrounded by grass and flowers. They
were perfectly happy together till, by-and-by, the woman fell ill and
refused to take any food. The husband tried to persuade her to eat
all sorts of delicious fruits that he had found in the forest, but she
would have none of them, and grew so thin he feared she would
die. 'Is there nothing you would like?' he said at last in despair.
'Yes, I think I could eat some wild honey,' answered she. The
husband was overjoyed, for he thought this sounded easy enough to
get, and he went off at once in search of it.
He came back with a wooden pan quite full, and gave it to his wife.
'I can't eat that,' she said, turning away in disgust. 'Look! there are
some dead bees in it! I want honey that is quite pure.' And the man
threw the rejected honey on the grass, and started off to get some
fresh. When he got back he offered it to his wife, who treated it as
she had done the first bowlful. 'That honey has got ants in it: throw
it away,' she said, and when he brought her some more, she
declared it was full of earth. In his fourth journey he managed to
find some that she would eat, and then she begged him to get her
some water. This took him some time, but at length he came to a
lake whose waters were sweetened with sugar. He filled a pannikin
quite full, and carried it home to his wife, who drank it eagerly, and
said that she now felt quite well. When she was up and had dressed
herself, her husband lay down in her place, saying: 'You have given
me a great deal of trouble, and now it is my turn!'
'What is the matter with you?' asked the wife.
'I am thirsty and want some water,' answered he; and she took a
large pot and carried it to the nearest spring, which was a good way
off. 'Here is the water,' she said to her husband, lifting the heavy
pot from her head; but he turned away in disgust.
'You have drawn it from the pool that is full of frogs and willows;
you must get me some more.' So the woman set out again and
walked still further to another lake.
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Fairytales 
