The Fat Woman That Melted Away
The Fat Woman That Melted Away is told to teach about peer pressure and rivalry.
The Fat Woman That Melted Away
There once was a very fat woman who was made of oil. The woman was exceptionally beautiful, and every man desired her, but she never left the house because she was made of oil. If she did leave the house, she would melt away.
Her mother knew of this condition. So whenever any man would come to marry her, she would turn the man down on her daughter’s behalf. If the man persisted, then the woman would say
“My daughter is made of oil, for this reason, she can’t go under the sun. That means she can’t go to the farm, fetch firewood, go to the stream, or even leave the house. So if you want to marry my daughter, you have to promise me that you will not allow her to step an inch into the sun because if she does, she will melt away.”
The condition was always very difficult for men to deal with, so they would leave immediately. One day, however, a man from a very distant town came to visit, and when he saw the fat woman sitting under a shade in the evening, he fell in love with her and decided to take her as a wife.
So he approached the woman’s mother, and the woman’s mother told him the same thing she always told other men, but this time round, the man still insisted that he wanted to marry her.
“I promise you, mama, I will not allow her to step a foot into the sun. I will keep her inside at all times.”
The mother was very pleased with this, but she still insisted that the fat woman’s sister go with them in case anything was to happen. Soon enough, the fat woman got married to this man from a distant land, and they went back to his home.
Immediately they got home, the other wife of the man became very jealous of the fat woman because of her beauty and the fact that her husband didn’t allow the woman to work at all.
The co-wife started complaining, “Whenever work is to be done in this house, you don’t do anything. You don’t fetch firewood nor go to the stream. You don’t even go to the market. All you do is lazy around, and everything gets done for you. You don’t even leave the house. You are a very lazy woman,” the other wife would say over and over again, but the fat woman never answered her.
One day when the man went to work in a distant land, the jealous wife picked on the fat woman so much that she finally decided to step out.
“No!” The fat woman’s younger sister said. “Remember what Mama told us. You can’t go into the sun. You will melt away if you do,” the younger sister tried to warn her.
“What other option do I have? This woman keeps shouting and raining abuse on me. I need to shut her up sooner than later,” the fat woman said as she dressed to go out.
“At least, let me follow you with a shade,” the younger sister offered, and the fat woman agreed. So they went out with the younger sister holding a shade over her head. Soon, the sun became so hot, and the jealous wife started talking and shouting once again.
“Lazy woman! Are you going to stand under that shade all day, or will you come out of it and help me with some farm work?” She started picking on the fat woman again till the woman decided that she would step into the sun. The younger sister warned her, but she didn’t listen. As soon as she stepped into the sun, she began melting away.
The younger sister, with tears in her eyes, managed to carry her foot and placed it inside her basket away from the sun, and then ran back home.
When the fat woman’s husband returned, his first question was – “Where is my fat wife?”
The fat woman’s sister pointed to the basket and said. “There she is. Your jealous wife picked on her so much for not helping with the house chores, so she stepped into the sun and melted away. She will come back after three months, but I am taking her back to our mother’s house, and if after three months, you do not send this jealous wife away, I will not bring my sister back to this house.” And with that, she left.
The man was so angry with the jealous wife that he took the jealous wife back to her people, and her people sold her into slavery and used the money to pay back her dowry.
After three months, the fat woman came back to life. She returned to her husband’s house.
Moral Lesson
Never allow someone to pressure you into doing something that is unhealthy for you.
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