Allan B Chinen

So he went to her and said, “Dear lady, what are you doing sitting out here without a veil? Have you no father or husband to take care of you? The husband refused to answer. “My wife still won’t give up!” he thought. So the thief decided that the woman must be a deaf-mute. He went into the house and saw that it was full of costly carpets, vases, and clothes. He packed everything he could into a bag and left, waving to the husband.

The husband almost rolled over with laughter, thinking of how desperate his wife must be to win the wager. “No matter what my wife does,” he thought, “I will not lose this bet.” By then it was midday. The poor calf had not had any food or water. So it broke out of the barn and ran around the village square, making a ruckus. The wife heard the noise from their friend’s and came running to see what was the matter. “How did the calf break loose?” she wondered. “My husband must be up to something.”

She grabbed the calf and went back to her home, but stopped at the sight of a strange woman sitting in front of her house. “I’ve been gone only a few hours,” she thought, “and my husband takes another wife!” She went up to the husband and said, “Who are you, you shameless woman sitting in front of my house?” The husband sprang up and said, “Ha, you spoke first. You have to take care of the calf from now on.” The wife exclaimed, “You shaved off your beard and put on makeup just to win our wager?” The husband replied, “I did no such thing. It was all those people you hired to get me to talk.” — Beliefnet.com