The expensive sweater

A wife was bothering her husband for some money so that she could buy a beautiful sweater which was on display in a shop window. She was saying, "This is the world's most beautiful sweater."

The husband told her, "It is so expensive, and we are poor people. Besides, how do you know it is the right size?"

The wife said, "I inquired and the sweater is my size."

Every day the wife continued to beg the husband, but the husband would say, "We are very poor. We will starve. It is fifty dollars, and we cannot spend fifty dollars just for a sweater."

The wife was so sad that she could not even cook properly. The husband felt miserable and finally he said, "All right, for us to spend fifty dollars is really something. But I am giving you fifty dollars to buy the sweater."

He gave her the money before he went to work. In the evening he came back and asked, "Where is the sweater?"

The wife said, "I went to the store to buy the sweater, but when I saw it on display, something entered into my mind."

The husband was so happy. "You were thinking that we really don't have enough money. Am I not correct? I am so grateful to you that you have not spent the fifty dollars on a sweater. You knew I was all the time protesting, so you didn't buy it."

The wife said, "No, I was not thinking of you or our poverty. I was just thinking of one thing. The brilliant thought entered into my mind that if the sweater had been really beautiful and really comfortable, I am sure by this time someone would have bought it. I thought that perhaps I was a fool, and the sweater couldn't really be that beautiful and that comfortable. For two weeks I have been begging you for the money. In two weeks' time somebody else would have bought it if it had been really beautiful. That is why I didn't buy it."

The husband said, "I am so happy for this brilliant idea. Every day you can be a great discoverer. One day you will discover an infinitely greater truth in life. From your discovery, you will make us rich. Then we will lead a most comfortable life and we will be able to buy not only one sweater but hundreds of sweaters. We will be able to buy any dress or anything that you want. You should always have these good, effective ideas."