THE THREE WISHES Once upon a time a woodsman and his wife lived in a little house in the forest. They were poor but very happy. They loved each other very much. They were always ready to share everything they had with anyone who came to their door. One day the woodsman was working in the forest. His wife was working at home. An old man came to their little house. He said he was very hungry. The woman had only a little food, but she shared it with him. The old man ate. Then he said, "God sent me to test you. You and your husband share everything you have with everyone. God wants to give a special gift because you are so kind." "What is the gift?" asked the woman. The old man answered, "You and your husband can make any three wishes and they will come true." The woman was very happy. She said, "I wish my husband could be there to hear you!" In a minute her husband was there. Her first wish came true. "What happend?" asked the woodsman. "I was in the forest. Why am I here now?" His wife kissed him and explained. The woodsman listened to her story. Then he became angry. He shouted at his wife for the first time. "You wasted one of our wishes. Now we have only two left. You are so foolish! I wish you had donkey ears!" His wife's ears began to grow. They changed into big donkey ears. The woman touched her long ears and cried. Her husband felt very bad about what he said. The old man said, "You never shouted each other before. Now you are different. You know you can have power and be rich. You have one wish left. Do you want to be rich? Do you want to have beautiful clothes?" The woodsman said, "We only want to be happy again, like before." The donkey ears disappeared. The woodsman and his wife thanked God. They were happy again. The old man said, "Poor people can be very happy and rich people can be very unhappy. God will give you the biggest happiness a married couple can have." A few months later the woodsman and his wife had a baby. The family lived happily ever after.