The Perfect Match

In days gone by, Chinese boys and girls were married at a very young age. In a certain village lived a landlord who was not a bad man but believed himself wiser than all the others in the village. His wife also held her judgment and opinion in high regard, though she was certain that her husband was cleverer and wiser than she was.

The couple had a daughter who was one year old. One day, a matchmaker approached the landlord and his wife, proposing that their baby girl be married to the son of the landlord from the next village. The prospective bridegroom was only two years old.

“What!” exclaimed the landlord’s wife angrily. “You are an experienced matchmaker. How can you fail to see that this is not a perfect match? My daughter is one year old while the boy is twice her age. If the boy were to live until one hundred—and let God grant it—my daughter would only be fifty by that time!”

“It is not like that, my dear wife,” replied her husband with a wise smile. “Our daughter is just one year old now. By next year, she will be two. In other words, she will have caught up with the boy’s age. It will be a perfect match!”

The landlord’s wife lowered her head and replied, “Yes, my respected husband; I see the point now.”