Here is a fine story for a discussion about the division of labor between husbands and wives. It's also good reading for expectant fathers in the waiting room. The tale comes from Kenya, east Africa.
A husban decided he did not want to live with his wife any longer and made up his mind to divoce her. But the couple had a newborn son, and both father and mother wanted to keep the child, so they went before judge.
The woman spoke first.
"I bore this child for nine months," she pleaded."I nurse him at my breast, I sing to him in my lap, I rock him to sleep in my arms every night. I hold him when he cries, and I tend him when he is sick. I am with him night and day, and love him more than my own life. Let me keep him".
Then the man spoke.
"I gave the seed that grew into this child," he said. "Therefore the child is mine. I should be able to keep it if I want."
The judge looked at the man. "So you gave the seed, you say" he asked.
"That's right," the man said proudly. "One little seed was all it took."
"I see," said the judge. "So the father gives the seed, and the mother carries and feeds the child. In that case, I think I can make a ruling in this matter. But first we must have some scales."
He called for a pair of scales and ordered the infant to be weighed.
"This child weighs nine pouds," the judge said to the father. "If you gave just one seed to make him, it stands to reason your wife has given nine pounds minus the weigh of one grain of seed. So if you want the child, you must pay your wife for nine pounds worth of food."
The husband stared at the judge as if he were in the presence of lunatic. "Wait, I 'm not through," the judge said."We also need to consult a baggage carrier." A baggage carrier was summoned. "How much do you charge to carry a burden for someone?" the judge asked.
"A coin a day for evey pound I carry," he answered. "Very good," the judge said. "we will figure that the woman carried one pound during the first month she was with child, ending with nine pounds by the ninth month she was with child. So for nine months' work of carrying the child, at a coin per pound every day, she earned nearly fourtheen hundren coins. The husband must pay her fourteen hundred coins for carrying his burden for him."
The husband looked wide eyed at the judge. "One other thing," the judge said."If it took this much work just to bring the child into the world, think how much it will take to raise it." The man stood silent, beginning to understand for the first time. "I see now, judge," he said at last. "Now I will start to take some of the burden from my wife, so that we might make the scales balance."
A husban decided he did not want to live with his wife any longer and made up his mind to divoce her. But the couple had a newborn son, and both father and mother wanted to keep the child, so they went before judge.
The woman spoke first.
"I bore this child for nine months," she pleaded."I nurse him at my breast, I sing to him in my lap, I rock him to sleep in my arms every night. I hold him when he cries, and I tend him when he is sick. I am with him night and day, and love him more than my own life. Let me keep him".
Then the man spoke.
"I gave the seed that grew into this child," he said. "Therefore the child is mine. I should be able to keep it if I want."
The judge looked at the man. "So you gave the seed, you say" he asked.
"That's right," the man said proudly. "One little seed was all it took."
"I see," said the judge. "So the father gives the seed, and the mother carries and feeds the child. In that case, I think I can make a ruling in this matter. But first we must have some scales."
He called for a pair of scales and ordered the infant to be weighed.
"This child weighs nine pouds," the judge said to the father. "If you gave just one seed to make him, it stands to reason your wife has given nine pounds minus the weigh of one grain of seed. So if you want the child, you must pay your wife for nine pounds worth of food."
The husband stared at the judge as if he were in the presence of lunatic. "Wait, I 'm not through," the judge said."We also need to consult a baggage carrier." A baggage carrier was summoned. "How much do you charge to carry a burden for someone?" the judge asked.
"A coin a day for evey pound I carry," he answered. "Very good," the judge said. "we will figure that the woman carried one pound during the first month she was with child, ending with nine pounds by the ninth month she was with child. So for nine months' work of carrying the child, at a coin per pound every day, she earned nearly fourtheen hundren coins. The husband must pay her fourteen hundred coins for carrying his burden for him."
The husband looked wide eyed at the judge. "One other thing," the judge said."If it took this much work just to bring the child into the world, think how much it will take to raise it." The man stood silent, beginning to understand for the first time. "I see now, judge," he said at last. "Now I will start to take some of the burden from my wife, so that we might make the scales balance."
2 comments:
Make sense fortu
Thanks Pato,I wish to see you there in kentucky. I presume you will be there. Good job in creating a blog, of South sudan, a nation that came into(being) existened on july 9, 2011.
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