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The people soon learned that Ivan was a fool. His wife one day said to
him, "The people say you are a fool, Ivan."
"
Well, let them think so if they wish," he replied.
His wife pondered this reply for some time, and at last decided that
if Ivan was a fool she also was one, and that it would be useless to go
contrary to her husband, thinking affectionately of the old proverb that
"where the needle goes there goes the thread also." She therefore cast
aside her magnificent robes, and, putting them into the trunk
with Ivan's, dressed herself in cheap clothing and joined her dumb
sister-in-law, with the intention of learning to work. She succeeded so
well that she soon became a great help to Ivan.
Seeing that Ivan was a fool, all the wise men left the kingdom and only
the fools remained. They had no money, their wealth consisting only
of the products of their labor. But they lived peacefully together,
supported themselves in comfort, and had plenty to spare for the needy
and afflicted.
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