The Believing Husbands
by Andrew Lang
The Silly Family
Once, there was a silly family. Jack and Jill lived on a farm. They lived with Ma and Pa. One sunny day, they picked berries. They worked for a long time. They got hungry. Jill went home to cook lunch.
In the barn, Jill saw a big basket. It was high above her head. "Oh no!" she said. "What if it falls on me?" She sat down and cried.
Ma came to the barn. She found Jill crying. "What is wrong?" asked Ma. Jill told her about the basket. "Oh no!" cried Ma. "That would be terrible!" Ma sat down and cried too.
Pa came to the barn. He found them crying. "What is wrong?" asked Pa. Ma told him about the basket. "Oh no!" cried Pa. "That is so sad!" Pa sat down and cried with them.
Jack came home. He was very hungry. He found them all crying. "What is wrong?" asked Jack. Pa told him about the basket. "It did not fall," said Jack. He went to eat his food. The next morning, Jack spoke. "I will go," he said. "I will find three people. They must be as silly as you." Jack walked away.
He came to a village. He saw some women. "Hello," said Jack. "I have a shiny badge. I will give it to you. You must make your husband silly. The silliest trick wins." The women smiled.
The first wife went home. "You are a statue!" she said. Her husband, Tom, stood very still. "I am a statue," he said. He did not move at all.
The second wife went home. "You are a tree!" she said. Her husband, Ben, stood in the garden. "I am a tree," he said. He stood very straight and still.
The third wife went home. Her husband was Sam. "You are a bird!" she said. "You can fly!" Sam was happy. "I am a bird!" he said. He flapped his arms. He went to the village fair.
At the fair, Sam flapped his arms. "Look at me!" he cried. "I am a bird!" People laughed and clapped.
Tom came from a shed. "I am a statue," he said. Ben came from the garden. "I am a tree," he said. They saw each other. They got a big surprise. They ran home very fast. Sam flapped his arms and ran too.
Jack went home. He was happy. He gave the shiny badge to Sam's wife. "Your husband was the silliest," he said. Jack looked at his family. "It is silly to believe silly things," he said. They all laughed together.
Original Story
_THE BELIEVING HUSBANDS_ ONCE upon a time there dwelt in the land of Erin a young man who was seeking a wife, and of all the maidens round about none pleased him as well as the only daughter of a farmer. The girl was willing and the father was willing, and very soon they were married and went to live at the farm. By and bye the season came when they must cut the peats and pile them up to dry, so that they might have fires in the winter. So on a fine day the girl and her husband, and the father and his wife all went out upon the moor. They worked hard for many hours, and at length grew hungry, so the young woman was sent home to bring them food, and also to give the horses their dinner. When she went into the stable, she suddenly saw the heavy pack-saddle of the speckled mare just over her head, and she jumped and said to herself: 'Suppose that pack-saddle were to fall and kill me, how dreadful it would be!' and she sat down just under the pack-saddle she was so much afraid of, and began to cry. * * * * * Now the others out on the moor grew hungrier and hungrier. 'What _can_ have become of her?' asked they, and at length the mother declared that she would wait no longer, and must go and see what had happened. As the bride was nowhere in the kitchen or the dairy, the old woman went into the stable, where she found her daughter weeping bitterly. 'What is the matter, my dove?' and the girl answered, between her sobs: 'When I came in and saw the pack-saddle over my head, I thought how dreadful it would be if it fell and killed me,' and she cried louder than before. The old woman struck her hands together: 'Ah, to think of it! If that were to be, what should I do?' and she sat down by her daughter, and they both wrung their hands and let their tears flow. * * * * * 'Something strange must have occurred,' exclaimed the old farmer on the moor, who by this time was not only hungry, but cross. 'I must go after them.' And he went and found them in the stable. 'What is the matter?' asked he. 'Oh!' replied his wife, 'when our daughter came home, did she not see the pack-saddle over her head, and she thought how dreadful it would be if it were to fall and kill her.' 'Ah, to think of it!' exclaimed he, striking his hands together, and he sat down beside them and wept too. As soon as night fell the young man returned full of hunger, and there they were, all crying together in the stable. 'What is the matter?' asked he. 'When thy wife came home,' answered the farmer, 'she saw the pack-saddle over her head, and she thought how dreadful it would be if it were to fall and kill her.' 'Well, but it didn't fall,' replied the young man, and he went off to the kitchen to get some supper, leaving them to cry as long as they liked. The next morning he got up with the sun, and said to the old man and to the old woman and to his wife: 'Farewell: my foot shall not return to the house till I have found other three people as silly as you,' and he walked away till he came to the town, and seeing the door of a cottage standing open wide, he entered. No man was present, but only some women spinning at their wheels. 'You do not belong to this town,' said he. 'You speak truth,' they answered, 'nor you either?' 'I do not,' replied he, 'but is it a good place to live in?' The women looked at each other. 'The men of the town are so silly that we can make them believe anything we please,' said they. 'Well, here is a gold ring,' replied he, 'and I will give it to the one amongst you who can make her husband believe the most impossible thing,' and he left them. * * * * * As soon as the first husband came home his wife said to him: 'Thou art sick!' 'Am I?' asked he. 'Yes, thou art,' she answered; 'take off thy clothes and lie down.' So he did, and when he was in his bed his wife went to him and said: 'Thou art dead.' 'Oh, am I?' asked he. 'Thou art,' said she; 'shut thine eyes and stir neither hand nor foot.' And dead he felt sure he was. * * * * * Soon the second man came home, and his wife said to him: 'You are not my husband!' 'Oh, am I not?' asked he. 'No, it is not you,' answered she, so he went away and slept in the wood. When the third man arrived his wife gave him his supper, and after that he went to bed, just as usual. The next morning a boy knocked at the door, bidding him attend the burial of the man who was dead, and he was just going to get up when his wife stopped him. 'Time enough,' said she, and he lay still till he heard the funeral passing the window. 'Now rise, and be quick,' called the wife, and the man jumped out of bed in a great hurry, and began to look about him. 'Why, where are my clothes?' asked he. 'Silly that you are, they are on your back, of course,' answered the woman. 'Are they?' said he. 'They are,' said she, 'and make haste lest the burying be ended before you get there.' Then off he went, running hard, and when the mourners saw a man coming towards them with nothing on but his nightshirt, they forgot in their fright what they were there for, and fled to hide themselves. And the naked man stood alone at the head of the coffin. Very soon a man came out of the wood and spoke to him. 'Do you know me?' 'Not I,' answered the naked man. 'I do not know you.' 'But why are you naked?' asked the first man. 'Am I naked? My wife told me that I had all my clothes on,' answered he. 'And _my_ wife told me that I myself was dead,' said the man in the coffin. But at the sound of his voice the two men were so terrified that they ran straight home, and the man in the coffin got up and followed them, and it was _his_ wife that gained the gold ring, as he had been sillier than the other two. From 'West Highland Tales.'
Moral of the Story
Extreme gullibility can lead to absurd and self-inflicted predicaments.
Characters
The Young Man ★ protagonist
Strong and capable, used to physical labor.
Attire: Simple homespun tunic and trousers, leather boots.
Practical, observant, and independent.
The Farmer's Daughter ◆ supporting
Healthy and robust, but prone to worry.
Attire: Simple linen dress, apron, shawl.
Anxious, easily frightened, and somewhat naive.
The Farmer ◆ supporting
Weather-beaten face, strong build.
Attire: Sturdy woolen clothes, leather belt.
Easily influenced, prone to overreaction, and somewhat foolish.
The Farmer's Wife ◆ supporting
Stout and matronly.
Attire: Dark, practical dress, shawl.
Gullible, emotional, and easily led.
First Husband ○ minor
Likely of average build, unremarkable.
Attire: Typical townsperson's attire.
Gullible, easily manipulated.
Second Husband ○ minor
Likely of average build, unremarkable.
Attire: Typical townsperson's attire.
Gullible, easily manipulated.
Third Husband ○ minor
Likely of average build, unremarkable.
Attire: Nightshirt only.
Gullible, easily manipulated.
Locations
Peat Moor
A wide open moor where peat is cut for fuel.
Mood: Laborious, then increasingly anxious
The family works, gets hungry, and the chain of silliness begins.
Farm Stable
A dimly lit stable with a speckled mare and a heavy pack-saddle hanging overhead.
Mood: Anxious, weepy, absurd
The bride imagines the pack-saddle falling, triggering a wave of sympathetic distress.
Town Cottage
A cottage with the door standing open, filled with women spinning at their wheels.
Mood: Scheming, competitive
The young man encounters the women and proposes the contest of silliness.
Funeral Procession Route
A road or path leading to a burial ground, where a funeral procession is underway.
Mood: Solemn, then chaotic and terrified
The naked man appears, causing the mourners to flee and revealing the extent of their foolishness.
Story DNA
Moral
Extreme gullibility can lead to absurd and self-inflicted predicaments.
Plot Summary
A newlywed wife, her mother, and her father become paralyzed with fear and cry over the imagined scenario of a pack-saddle falling on the wife. The young husband, exasperated by their extreme gullibility, vows to leave home until he finds three people even sillier. He travels to a town and offers a gold ring to the woman who can make her husband believe the most impossible thing. Three wives succeed in convincing their husbands they are dead, not themselves, and naked while clothed, respectively. These three deluded men converge at a funeral, causing chaos and revealing their profound silliness, allowing the young husband to return home, having found his match.
Themes
Emotional Arc
frustration to amusement
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
The story reflects a common folk tale trope of testing a spouse's intelligence or finding someone 'siller' than one's own family, often used for comedic effect and to highlight human folly.
Plot Beats (15)
- A young man marries a farmer's daughter and they live at the farm.
- While cutting peat, the young wife is sent home to prepare food and feed horses.
- In the stable, she imagines a pack-saddle falling and killing her, and sits down to cry in fear.
- Her mother-in-law finds her, hears the imagined fear, and joins her in crying.
- Her father-in-law finds them both, hears the story, and also joins them in crying.
- The young husband returns, finds them all crying over an imagined event, and goes to get supper, vowing to leave until he finds three people as silly.
- He travels to a town, finds women spinning, and offers a gold ring to the one who can make her husband believe the most impossible thing.
- The first wife convinces her husband he is sick, then dead, and he lies still.
- The second wife convinces her husband he is not her husband, and he sleeps in the wood.
- The third wife convinces her husband he is naked while wearing clothes, and sends him to a funeral.
- The naked husband frightens the mourners, who flee, leaving him alone with the coffin.
- The 'dead' husband from the first wife's trick emerges from the coffin, still believing he is dead.
- The 'not my husband' man from the second wife's trick emerges from the wood, still believing he is not himself.
- The three gullible husbands are terrified by each other's presence and run home.
- The young husband returns home, having fulfilled his vow, and the third wife wins the gold ring for her husband's ultimate silliness.
