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Seppy working in the Fields

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All they possessed was a pig, a cow, and some hens. The pig lay on some straw between two stakes in one corner of the room, the cow was tied up to a wooden trough in another corner, the hens roosted on the rafters.

It was not a happy household; quarrels were frequent, and Seppy was always finding fault with Bella. When he came in from his work at midday the potatoes were either too hot or too cold, the soup too thick or too thin, and he reproached Bella bitterly, declaring that she lived a life of idleness, while he worked like a slave in the fields.

These scenes became so frequent that Bella grew tired of this cat-and-dog life.

One day, when he began to grumble as usual, she defied him, insisting that the next morning they should change places: she would go to work like a slave in the fields, while he should stay at home to do the cooking. “He will soon see,” she said, “that when all the work has been done properly, there is no time for twiddling one’s thumbs.”