On the outskirts of a village just where the oxen were turned out to pasture , and the pigs roamed about burrowing with their noses among the roots of the trees , there stood a small house . In the house lived a man who had a wife , and the wife was sad all day long . ` Dear wife , what is wrong with you that you hang your head like a drooping rosebud ? ' asked her husband one morning . ` You have everything you want ; why can not you be merry like other women ? ' ` Leave me alone , and do not seek to know the reason , ' replied she , bursting into tears , and the man thought that it was no time to question her , and went away to his work . He could not , however , forget all about it , and a few days after he inquired again the reason of her sadness , but only got the same reply . At length he felt he could bear it no longer , and tried a third time , and then his wife turned and answered him . ` Good gracious ! ' cried she , ` why can not you let things be as they are ? If I were to tell you , you would become just as wretched as myself . If you would only believe , it is far better for you to know nothing . ' But no man yet was ever content with such an answer . The more you beg him not to inquire , the greater is his curiosity to learn the whole . ` Well , if you MUST know , ' said the wife at last , ' I will tell you . There is no luck in this house -- no luck at all ! ' ` Is not your cow the best milker in all the village ? Are not your trees as full of fruit as your hives are full of bees ? Has anyone cornfields like ours ? Really you talk nonsense when you say things like that ! '
` Yes , all that you XXXXX is true , but we have no children . '
Has Is Leave beg cried lived say talk tell turned