Summary
Once upon a time, in a certain country and a certain county, there lived a woman. Her parents arranged for her to marry a husband, and they lived together, but when her husband passed away, the parents sought to arrange another man for their daughter. Upon hearing this, the daughter said to her mother:
"If my destiny was to stay with my husband until the end, my previous husband would not have died, and we could have enjoyed a full life together. My husband must have died because it was my fate not to complete my life with him. Even if I were to marry again, it is certain that I would also be separated from that man by death. Therefore, please do not speak of this matter any further."
Her mother was greatly surprised by this and reported it to her father, who insisted, "I am already old. I may die soon. How do you intend to live after that?" He pressed on.
Then the daughter said to her parents:
"In this house, there is a pair of swallows nesting and raising their young. Kill the male swallow and mark the female swallow, then set her free. If next year the female swallow brings back another male swallow, then arrange for me to have a husband. Even animals do not welcome another mate after being separated by death. How much more must humans, who have hearts, be so?"
Hearing this, the parents agreed, saying, "Indeed, that makes sense," and they caught the pair of swallows that had nested in their house, killed the male, and marked the female with red thread before releasing her.
The following spring, as they waited for the swallows to return, the marked female swallow came back without a male. She built a nest but, without laying eggs, flew away by the end of the summer.
Seeing this, the parents understood, saying, "Truly, you are right," and they lost the desire to arrange for their daughter to have another husband.
