Everyone is silent. The elder wife always scolds Sanboh more than anyone else. Sanboh never speaks back to her mother-in-law—I do. She listens to everything with downcast eyes, in silence.

Cows, oxen, and other animals cannot speak. Even dull-witted people cannot speak up. That is why people misunderstand them, they do not know what is in their hearts. For no reason at all, how much suffering they must bear, how often they are beaten unjustly, and yet they cannot protest or defend themselves. Sanboh’s condition is just like that. She listens to everything quietly, but she has no way to open her mouth. Sometimes, out of irritation, the old mother-in-law calls her a worm. After all, she is an old woman—how much can she understand the affairs of the house? Still, the house is hers—the daughter-in-law, for her, is the one who keeps the household together. Sometimes, in the depths of her old mind, the fear arises: what if the house falls apart because of her?

Chapter Two

“Since morning, I’ve been threshing paddy in the barn, and now, whether it’s my hand or my foot, I can’t move a muscle. And yet—should I eat alone? What about everyone else’s hunger?”

“Let it go, child. Every time you eat, you talk about sharing, and every time you eat, you talk about the house falling apart.”

“Yes, what does Bhramara understand anyway? I will thresh the paddy, I will pound the rice, and I will again sweep the house. All the blame is mine. All the insults are reserved for me alone.”

No one speaks out of turn, neither the elder daughter-in-law nor the younger one. She is the daughter of a respectable family—a single daughter—raised with care and affection. When she first came to her in-laws’ house, she brought so much dowry that all the neighbors came to see and their eyes widened in amazement. The girls envied her parental home. The daughters-in-law felt a secret shame in their hearts. When the mother-in-law called her daughter-in-law aside, she lowered her voice and said, “Listen, my dear, what is the use of so much pride? Have you filled my house with gold, silver, silk, and ornaments from your father’s house, that you should act so high and mighty here?”

The younger daughter-in-law, even if she wanted to say something, could not utter a word; she just sat quietly. She was new here. Her mother-in-law and father-in-law were still alive—how could she step out of line, how could she speak to anyone as she wished?

The mother-in-law and the elder daughter-in-law did not speak much to her. Who would bother to talk nicely? And what did she possess anyway? In this respectable family, she was just one more person—doing all the work. She was only a new daughter-in-law, sitting quietly. She did not dare to speak out of turn.

The mother-in-law called out, “Come here, daughter, bring the net. I will sprinkle turmeric on the servant, and then I will go to