Once upon a time, there lived a man who had plenty of everything – a large fertile farm, with cattle, sheep, and goats. But, as he grew old, he grew sad, because one thing was missing. He did not have a wife.
Standing under a tree one day, he had a brilliant idea. If he couldn't find a wife, perhaps he could make one?
So he set to work to shape a beautiful woman from a strong branch of the tree. When he had finished making the statue, he touched her eyes, and they opened. He blew gently on her, and she came alive.
She was truly the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He knelt before her, and asked her to be his wife.
He gave her a colorful apron, beads, and a head ring, the sign of a married woman. And he built her a house with the mud and grass that used to lie at the foot of her trunk. "Only one thing I beg of you," he said to his wife. "Never tell anyone where you come from."
But before long, the young men from a neighboring village began talking among themselves.

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