The Boy

Once upon a time in a little village in the mountains there lived an old blind woman. Whether she had become blind or had been born that way no one could remember. Maybe her husband knew, but he had died in the great wars many years ago. She lived with her young son on the edge of the village. They took care of each other. Everyday the boy would go down to the village below and take whatever odd jobs he could find to make just enough money to buy what they needed. At night he would come home to his mother who would make supper, mend his clothes and do whatever else needed to be done around the house. This had been going on since the boy was old enough to work.

Slowly, however, the boy was growing up. Soon it would be time for him to go out and find a wife, get married, and settle down. Every time he brought up the subject of marriage with his mother, however, she would start to warn him of the dangers of a broken heart and a broken marriage. Just look at us, she would say, aren't we happy? Just the two of us. You see, she didn't want her boy to get his hopes up only to have them dashed. He was only a poor mountain boy so finding a good wife would be difficult.

Eventually the boy decided something had to be done. He told his mother he had found a new job that would require him to travel for a while and that he would be gone for longer than usual -- of course he promised his nearly weeping mother he would hurry back as quickly as he could. He traveled from village to village, searching for a wife. Finally, in a tiny village by a river he found the most lovely woman he had ever met. And since this is a happy story, she loved him back very much and they got married. After the appropriate ceremonies and celebrations they set out for the boy's village, so he could show his bride to his mother. As they traveled the boy rehearsed in his mind how he would break the news to his mother that he had a wife. But, no matter how he ran it through his head he always ended up breaking her heart -- which of course he did not want to do.

By now the boy had been gone for some time. The mother was a little bit worried. She knew she had a fine son and that he would be back eventually. But, she was worried about her aching bones. Everyday it was a little bit harder to get out of bed. She feared she was getting old, and might soon die. She actually didn't mind dying that much. It was her son she was worried about. He had lived with her his whole life. What would he do without her? Never having lived on his own, she wasn't certain he would survive. So, she trekked down to the village and began looking for someone who could take care of her son when she was gone. Finally she found a nice spinster who would take on the job. She brought the spinster back and instructed her in the care of her son, who would no doubt soon return as he had always done, every night. And then -- as she foretold -- she died.

The son, in the meantime, was nearing home, and he was still uncertain how he would tell his mother he had gotten married and would be living alone now. Then, he hit on an ingenious plan. He would replace himself. In a nearby village he found an orphan some years younger than himself and instructed him on being his mother's son. You might find this cruel of the boy, but really he was just trying not to break his mother's heart. Remember -- she was blind and somewhat deaf in one ear so she wouldn't notice the difference. He couldn't bear causing her pain and this seemed like the perfect plan. When he got to his old village he sent the orphan up the road to his mother's, turned, and with his bride started a new life far away.

Life in the village went on as though nothing had changed. The orphan-boy came and did odd jobs to take care of his spinster-mother and himself.