who then remains silent, bandag-ing her wounded pride, because poverty and want, and her tongue's inability to make her husband grasp the true state of things, keep her from protest and objection. And the husband will not pause even a moment to study the situation with more than a superficial glance that cannot take in the decisive position; rather, he accepts the assistance that spares his pocket, with thanks and appreciation.

When a mother dies, leaving mar-ried sons and daughters, a dispute is bound to break out between the brother's wife and the girl who comes forward to inherit the jewels and precious effects she is entitled to take after her mother. This envy breeds aversion and quarreling and lands the husband in a cruel predicament; and often the wife's influence over her husband's soul is strong, so that she launches him into a blind war whose flames devour the sister!

And here I lay before you some opinions from differing sources, in which each lady sets out the reality of her family: "I

am in complete accord with my brother's wife: there is nothing in common between us, and we meet only at formal parties, weddings, and funerals."

"My husband has five sisters who cannot bear my presence among them, just as I hate the ground they walk on."

"I love my husband's sister very much, but she vexes me at times with her criticisms of the way I bring up my children."

"My brother's wife has been my friend since school days; she is a charming girl, a true sister, and an intimate friend, and I would not take the whole world in exchange for her."

"My husband has three sisters older than he, and they have undermined his character with pampering and coddling until he has come to vex me with his selfishness."

These varied opinions show truly that the mother-in-law's daughter is either an accursed devil or a merciful angel: either she brings the house down upon the heads of its dwellers, through the discord and misunderstanding

born of her selfishness and folly, or she is a healing balm for the family's wounds, wiping away their pains with her gentleness, her tenderness, and her goodness of heart. We must also not expect the man to study these problems, trifling as they are in his eyes; and I advise you to give up trying to convince your husband or your brother by explaining the causes from which the quarrel arose. Never run to your brother complaining of his wife's conduct, for he will fail you: he will not forsake the companion of his for-tune and misfortune to please you in any case. But if you become certain that your mother-in-law's daughter can never be a sister or a friend to you, then smile at her and hold your nerves and your tongue; and you must also train yourself in patience and hard trial, striving to win the weightier scale of friendship with your mother-in-law's daughter or your brother's wife — for you may be living with her all your life.

Translated from the "Ladies' Home Journal"