The farmer and his family

Once upon a time in a village pretty far away there lived a farmer. He had three daughters and a loving wife. Every morning he would work in the fields, feed the cattle and come home for a big dinner and go to sleep. His wife cleaned the house, milked the goats and the cows, herded the chicken and the pigs. The daughters helped around the house and with the animals.

One day the farmer got very sick. The local doctor could not treat him. They gave him all the medicines and treated him with all the various witch-doctor treatments, to no avail. Each day he got worse and worse. He could not move from the bed and looked very pale. Large pimples appeared around his mouth and nose and his thighs and arms got swollen up. He had trouble swallowing and speaking. He would wail in pain all day long but there was nothing anyone could do to help him.

A strange man came to the village suddenly, no one knew who he was or what he was there for. He asked for a place to stay and offered to pay a reasonable amount of money. He heard about the sickly farmer and offered to help him get better, but under one condition. The farmer, who was barely able to understand what was happening nodded his head his mouth drooling his eyes watery. His wife said they would agree to whatever reasonable demands he might have they would agree to it if they could fulfill it.

The man went back to his lodgings and brought a big bag of various herbs and tools. He instructed the farmer to open all his clothes off and applied a green ointment all over his body. The farmer shrieked in pain for the ointment hurt his already sensitive skin. Two villagers helped the farmer stay in the same place as the man finished applying the ointment. Then he injected some liquid into his arms using a sharp needle and the farmer soon fell asleep. As the hours went by, the green ointment turned brown and started peeling off. The man occasionally checked the farmer and used a needle to drain his wounds of the pus.

In three days, all the swells on the farmer's body had disappeared and his appetite had returned. He could drink soup and water and fruits. He couldn't speak still but his eyes showed his indebtedness and gratitude towards the stranger. The stranger made the farmer drink a strange concoction of seventeen different herbs, three different grain-waters mixed with broth of bones from seven animals, and four spoonfulls of salt. Every morning the farmer drank two bowls of it, and drank two more in the evening. The farmer found the mixture salty, he drank three glasses of water after each meal. Despite that, he started showing improvements. His throat was recovering gradually, and he could talk in loud whispers to people nearby.

On the second month of the farmer's treatment by the stranger, he could walk around the house and eat light meals by himself. He was unable to exert himself too much or his legs would give up and he fell down. The stranger instructed the farmer to jump for fifty times before every meal  and a hundred times half hour after. The farmer was unable to follow the instructions. However, he persevered, dividing his meals into smaller chunks and thus the workouts too. Eventually he was able to follow the prescribed instructions.

As winter came by, the farmer was almost back to his former form. His farm was still being tended by neighbors and his daughters, he walked every morning and watched as they tended the plants, removed the weeds, cleared the furrows opened and closed the water canals and chatted with their friends. He ordered them to not be lazy but they ignored him and went about their way. He sighed and strolled around the area every time that happened.

One day the stranger came to his house and reminded the farmer of his promise. I am here for the favor, the stranger said, that you promised me for curing you. The farmer's eyes welled up he touched the stranger's feet as he cried. Anything for you sir, he said, you saved my life, you saved my family's future anything you want.

The stranger said he wanted the farmer's youngest daughter's hand in marriage. The house went quiet. The three daughters who were standing in the room beside their father said nothing for a moment. He looked at his youngest daughter. "What do you have to say, my dear," he said. The girl looked at the stranger. How old are you oh stranger, she said. I will have lived fourty-five winters this year my dear, he said. And do you know how old I am, she asked him. Yes dear your mother tells me you are just in your sweet sixteen, he said, and they say that is the best age to marry a mature adult man and start your life, he said. The room went quiet. The youngest girl opened her mouth but said nothing, looking at the floor. She finally spoke up. In that case, she said, you fucking pedo creep, you should not be after underage girls. And besides I am no one's fucking property for you to just ask for me like that okay you weirdo? What do you think we are, some sort of cattle that can be traded for favors or what? she said looking directly at him. There was a knock on the door. A couple of uniformed policemen stood outside with handcuffs. They entered the room and spoke directly to the stranger.

Mr. Jeb Langdon, you are under arrest. You have an Interpol red corner warrant after you for seventeen charges of child molestation and harassment, four murder charges across three different countries, and thirty-seven....a policeman said looking at a sheet of paper...charges of intentionally causing harm to civilians using bio-weapons and impersonating a medical professional to gain trust into your victims' families. Come with us.

The police put the stranger in handcuffs and took him away. And everyone lived happily ever after. The girls grew up to become successful professionals -- one became a lawyer, the other a scientist, and the youngest one did an MD-PHD and then a law degree, becoming the first chief of her medical professional association who was a woman. The farmer and his wife were very proud of their daughters.