Once upon a time…
There was a peasant woman with a desire to sew. She bought the cheapest machine she could get because it was all she could afford. And she sewed. She made a cat bed, skirts, some zippered make-up bags, and a few other things. But little did she know an evil wizard had cast a spell on her machine before it was sold that would make it inexplicably break. The woman was very sad. Her husband tried to fix the machine. Her mother-in-law tried to figure out what was wrong. But nothing they did made it better. And in time the machine became even more useless. Hiring a repair-wizard would cost far more than the machine cost. So the woman conceded defeat.
A few years after buying the first machine the woman’s husband surprised her with a new sewing machine for Mother’s Day. And there was much rejoicing! But, having learned her lesson the first time the woman consulted her magical information machine and, in doing so, discovered that this particular type of machine was regularly cursed by wizards and witches. So it was with much sadness and a few tears that the woman had her husband return the machine.
Now the woman had no machine and no hope of soon obtaining one. Trustworthy machines simply cost too much, even refurbished ones from the repair-wizard’s shop. But one day the woman saw a notice on ye olde notice board on her magical information machine for a trustworthy sewing machine in “good condition” for very little money. She laid claim right away and soon the merchant-woman delivered the machine to her. Alas! It was missing a foot, but the merchant discounted the machine to help make up for that unfortunate fact.
It wasn’t until after the merchant had left that the peasant woman discovered that the machine was also missing a crucial part. She contacted the merchant woman again to ask for a refund. The merchant woman simply said she had never had that part. The peasant woman was outraged! “Why, that’s dishonest, “ she said. “You shouldn’t have listed it in “good condition” if you couldn’t even test to see if it works!” The merchant said nothing and slunk off into the dark and frightening woods where only liars, cheats, and robbers live. The peasant woman pronounced a curse on her but, not being a witch, the spell was just harmless, but colorful, words.
By this time the peasant women was sorely vexed and feeling quite depressed. There were so many projects to sew and no way to sew them. Hoping against hope she visited the shop of the lord and lady of the land and asked if they ever had sewing machines for sale. They did, in fact they had one that very moment! It was an older machine, which meant it was probably made before wizards and witches began regularly cursing machines. And, just to be sure, the peasant woman could try it out before buying it {at a discount because the lord and lady are benevolent like that}. It worked! The peasant woman rejoiced! She may have gone through much sorrow and frustration. She may have been cheated. But she finally had a working sewing machine!
But what to do with the two expensive and very large door stops she still had in her possession? “Perhaps the repair-wizard would like to by them for parts,” she said to herself. And, in a complete reversal of her usual luck with sewing machines the repair-wizard did indeed want to buy them. In fact, he bought the machine the wicked, lying merchant had sold her for three times the amount the peasant woman had paid for it {“ha-ha! take THAT liar-liar-pants-on-fire” she thought}. And with a song in her heart the woman joyfully used her earnings to buy notions and fabric.
And she lived happily, ever after?