The Hunter's Wife And The Cockroach

by Balthazar M.

A cockroach was once hanging around the wooden door frame of a cottage where a hunter and his wife lived. One day, while the hunter was away, the woman decided to dust the house. She spotted cobwebs lining the doorway and headed in that direction with a duster.

The cockroach, alarmed by the approaching human, feared it has been spotted. It thought in distress, 'All my life I have been avoiding the bottoms of boots and rolls of newspaper. A feather duster will not be the end of me!'

Because of the cockroach's brown color, the hunter's wife was none the wiser of the insect's position; and, swatted away indiscriminately at the cobwebs near cockroach. Wrongfully perceiving this as a direct attack on him, the cockroach decided at that moment to quickly fly to a different spot. As he fluttered his wings, the woman took notice of the insect for the very first time and cried in surprise. She involuntarily jerked her hand in defense and shock; and, in one swift movement, swatted the duster at the cockroach accidentally.

Hitting the floor violently with its cracked body, the cockroach thought in dismay, 'Woe is me! If only I chose to crawl away calmly instead of blindly flying directly in the arms of my murderer, I would still be alive!'

Calamity befalls those whose feet are ruled by fear. 🌸

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