A defamed bride...

**The Slandered Daughter-in-Law...**

Even though many years have passed, I cannot forget the story described in a letter sent to the editorial office. Whenever I catch sight of magpies, crows, jays, and other birds roaming around the courtyard, that incident comes back to my mind. The author of the letter was an innocent young bride who was separated from her family and whose reputation was ruined because of a mysterious "theft." Here is that letter.

"I was married into a house with a large courtyard. It was late autumn. My father-in-law and mother-in-law returned after performing the Hajj pilgrimage. Everyone came to visit and congratulate them. Our house was filled with guests for two or three days. From morning till night, people gathered around the table without end. Our cauldrons were boiling continuously...

Once all the guests had left, we began cleaning the rooms. Myself, my two sisters-in-law, and neighbor women worked tirelessly. After putting everything back in its place, my elder sister-in-law suddenly flew into a frenzy and raised a outcry, saying, 'My gold jewelry is gone! Whoever took it, return it, or I will publicly shame you.' I was left stunned.

We were heating water in the stone hearth in the courtyard and washing the dishes. According to her, she had taken off her jewelry and set it down right there. Whether it flew into the sky or sank underground, nobody knows. No one else had been to that spot except us. Everyone looked at me, and I didn't know who to look at. There was no place we didn't search, but we could not find it. In short... it turned out that I had stolen the jewelry.

That very day, the rumor spread throughout the neighborhood. I couldn't even go out onto the street. Gossip reached its peak. One of the children returning from school said loud enough for me to hear, 'Look, there is the thief daughter-in-law.' My family came. My father-in-law said, 'Well, if the daughter-in-law didn't take it, who did?' My mother-in-law had reportedly gone to a fortune teller, who said, 'The jewelry isn't lost; it has been hidden.' After those words, the world went dark before my eyes, and I took my children and left the house.

Three or four months passed. In truth, it was not just three or four months; it felt like a thousand years had passed for me. I lived hoping for God's help; I had no other choice. Finally, one day...

It was early spring. My husband climbed the old walnut tree at the edge of the courtyard to trim its sprawling branches, and he saw something glistening in one of the crow's nests. When he looked closely, there were small pieces of broken mirror and... that lost jewelry. Out of joy, he almost fell from the tree.

They came to our home to break the good news, saying the jewelry had been found. But this good news didn't move me or my parents even a bit. I said that I would rather enter hell than return to that courtyard with the walnut tree..."