In a village neither here nor there, a girl was born to a simple woman. Upon looking at the babe, the mother remarked how beautiful she would grow to be.
The woman took great effort in caring for the child, her hands were always kept clean, and treated with herbs and oils daily. Neighbors would remark on the smoothness and shine of the her skin and praised her mother's care.
As she grew older, many folk of the village continued praising the girl's appearance, noting that her hands were especially beautiful. But, the woman forbade the girl from playing with the other children for fear of injury. Likewise, the girl's food was handled by her mother, cut and portioned so that it was easier to handle.
After her first ageing, the girl's mother kept her confined to their home, preventing her from working the fields or even around the house. To stave of the girl's boredom, she bought books of many kind. The woman continued to religiously treat the girl's skin with her mixtures of herbs and oils.
After her second ageing, when many girls set out to find husbands the woman remarked how the girl's beautiful hands would bring many suitors. And so it was, many young men who had heard of the girl's beautiful hands approached the woman, but she would not permit any of them near her daughter. None, she said would give her daughter a life of ease that her hands would always remain beautiful.
Eventually the suitors gave up, and things returned to quiet for the woman and her daughter. Yet the woman held hope that a man of good standing would hear of her daughter's hands and seek them out. As it so happened, a young man of good standing had indeed heard of the girl with the beautiful hands and traveled to meet her. Upon meeting the man the woman had her doubts, but seeing the man's hands, she allowed him to meet with her daughter.
Left in a small room together, the two talked of many things, the man was rather impressed with the girl's reasoning, noting her to be intelligent despite her environment. As they paused for tea, he asked to hold her hands to which she complied.
"Your hands are indeed beautiful." The man remarked. "Tell me, with hands this beautiful how capable are you with fieldwork?"
"I have never done fieldwork sir." The girl replied with a smile on her face.
The man nodded and asked " I take it your strength lies in your ability with housework?"
"I have never done housework sir." The girl responded shaking her head.
The man nodded again and thought for a moment. "Pray tell, what can you do with these hands of yours?"
"I read." The girl answered confidently. "And sometimes I give mother a massage."
"That's it?"
When the girl nodded the man sighed and scratched his head in frustration.
"Then you will add no value to me as a wife. Would you have me tend to the field and house, prepare our meals and our needle work myself? For I tend to the field and house work and my hands are just as beautiful as your own. Look. "The man said as he stretched his hands towards the girl.
The girl examined the man's hands, indeed his hands were just as beautiful as her own, but he confessed to field and house work. Her mother always said she need not do any work as it would injure her hands or make them tough and hard. But this man's hands were smooth and tender as her own.
"How have you done this? Mother said field and house work would damage my hands, and that needlework and cooking would leave scars."
"I use a glove, and clean my hands thoroughly when finished, then let them sit in herbs and oil. You have no ability save your mind, I see no reason to wed you. I will take my leave."
And with that the man left the house. But his words remained with the girl. She had thought many a times, how to help her mother and maintain the beauty of her hands. The man had given her a way. Following his departure the girl requested a soft pair of gloves from her mother who obliged.
Every day after getting her gloves, the girl would try a different activity while her mother was away. But, she was much too clumsy with the housework, and her needlework wasted precious cloth and threads. Cooking seemed the skill she could adopt most easily, for she prepared meals from memories of her mother. While her meals tasted nothing like her mother's, they were edible.
The days passed and seasons changed yet the girl kept to her cooking trials. Then one day, when the weather had turned cold, she arose before her mother and prepared their breakfast. When the woman awoke she was surprised but furious with the girl, immediately she checked the girl's hands. Finding no scars and the seeing girl's hands were still tender, the woman pondered aloud how it was so.
"The man who visited us confided in me, he worked field and house, but by use of gloves, herbs and oils, his hands remained beautiful." The girl confessed.
The woman nodded in approval as she understood the reason her daughter requested gloves after the man left them. When they sat down to eat, the woman praised the girl's skill as she found the meal to be the best she had eaten.
After that day, the woman allowed the girl to prepare more meals, and even taught her field and house work. Soon the girl removed the gloves, and over time her hands hardened and acquired scars, much to her mother's dismay. But finally the girl looked upon her hands thought them beautiful, for she had long admired the hard-worked hands of her mother and the villagers as the most beautiful.232Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhi4FpWPf3E
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