The Woman Who Helped Her Sister

From “Fables for the Fair”

THERE was once a Woman who had Read in a Book that the Best Way to Become Dear to a Man was to Cook appetizing Dishes for Him. Therefore when a Nice Man Called on Her it was Her Custom to Retire to the Dining-room and Compose Delicious Lunches in a Chafing-dish, leaving her Sister to Entertain the Man till her return. Her Sister would not Learn to Cook, because she did Not Care to.

One Day the Man invited the Woman to Go to the Theater with him. This she would have Liked to do Very Much, but she Remembered What she had Read, and replied:

“I will Tell you Something Better. Take my Sister to the Theater, and when you Come Home I will have a Nice Supper waiting For You.”

“Oh, very Well!” said the Man. That evening he Fell in Love with the Sister, and Some Time Later he asked her to Marry him.

“But I Thought it was My Sister you Came to See,” said she; “and besides that, I Fear I should Make a Poor Wife. I am Not Practical, and I Cannot Cook.”

“As to that,” replied the Man, “I came at First, it is True, to see Your Sister, but I saw Very Little of her because she Stayed in the Dining-room So Much; so that I Grew to Admire You. And as for your Not Cooking, that is Easily Arranged. Your Sister can Live with Us and Manage All That very nicely.”

This teaches us that you must Catch your Hare before you Cook for Him.

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