A young man once lived with his mother. She cooked his food and cleaned his clothes.

Then the man got married and his wife moved in.

At first, all went well. But then the two women began to dislike each other.

One day, the husband came home late from the fields. "I'm hungry. Where's my dinner?" he called. His wife refused to answer. "What's the matter?" he asked.

His wife began to cry. "Your mother hates me. She's always rude to me. I can't live with her any longer."

The man looked at his beautiful wife. He loved her.

"Please, try to live with her. She's old and won't be with us for ever. Don't talk about it now. Bring me my dinner."

His wife said, "There is no dinner! I can't cook when that old woman is here. She insults me all the time."

"But what can I do?" the man said. "She's my mother. This is her home. I can't send her away."

"You must choose either her or me. You can't have both of us," she said.

That night, the man went to bed hungry. He couldn't sleep. "What can I do?" he thought.

"How can I choose between my wife and my mother? My mother has loved me always. But my wife is young and beautiful. I can't live without her."

The next morning, his wife said to him, "Well, husband? Have you chosen?

"I want both of you!" said the man.

"You can't have both of us," said his wife. "Kill your mother. We can have many happy years together."

The man went off to work in the fields. All day he thought about his wife and his mother.

"My wife is right," he thought at last. "My mother is old. I will take her up the mountain and throw her over the cliff. Then my wife and I will be happy."

He went home from the fields. His wife asked, "Have you chosen?" "Yes, I have chosen you. Tomorrow I will take my mother up the mountain and throw her over the cliff. Now bring me dinner. I'm hungry."

"Yes," said his wife, "I have cooked all your favourite dishes. When your mother is dead, I will make them for you every day."

The next day, the man said, "Mother, you and I are going up the mountain today. You will like it very much."

"I'm old," she said. "I can't walk up the mountain." "I'll carry you," said her son.

He carried her up. At first his mother talked happily. Her son said nothing. Soon she stopped talking.

After a while, they reached the top of a cliff. "I understand everything my son. Throw me over, but don't fall yourself. When you push me, hold a branch of that tree. Then you will be safe."

Surprised, the man said, "Mother, you know everything but you still love me!" "Only a mother knows love," she smiled sadly.

The man put his mother down and sat down beside her. He thought, "Does my wife love me as much as this?"

Then he thought, "My wife is a wicked woman. I loved her once, but I don't love her now. I choose to keep my mother and send my wife away."

The man carried his mother down from the mountain. He took her home and sent his wife away.

He lived happily with his mother for many years.