Once upon a time there was a woman who had an only son. She raised him with great tenderness, doting on him so much that she fed him and gave him his water with her own hands. Then one day a man's daughter came of age to marry. In the old days, you see, people set conditions for marriage, so the girl's father told her to make a hat. The girl made the hat, and the young men of the neighborhood came, but the hat did not fit any of them.
Then the woman heard the news and said to herself, "Let me go and bring my boy. He has come of age to marry too. Maybe the hat will fit my son's head." She went and brought her son, and the hat really did fit his head.
The girl hesitated a little and said to herself, "Maybe this is my fate. Maybe, if I wait, I won't get another chance like this." She got up and went to see for herself. She found that things were in a very poor state. She said to her mother-in-law, "Mother dear, why don't you go and stay at your brother's house for a few days, and I'll stay here with my husband?" Without any fuss, the mother-in-law agreed and went.
Once the mother-in-law was gone, the son said, "I want bread." His wife did not give him any bread for a good while. She set the bread out of his reach and said, "Come over here and eat it."