An Eight Cow Wife

An Eight Cow Wife

By Janel Breitenstein

An old story told from the island of Kiniwata relates the account of a man known as Johnny Lingo. The youngest and strongest man from the island, Johnny shocked the islanders by paying the father of his bride not the traditional two to three cows for his wife, or even the four to five cows for an exceptional wife. For Sarita, he paid eight.

No one could understand: "It would be kindness to call her plain. She was skinny. She walked with her shoulders hunched and her head ducked. She was scared of her own shadow." Eight cows!? The entire island laughed at the audacity.

Curious about the story, writer Patricia McGerr visited Johnny's home. She was fascinated by what she describes as the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. She wrote about this in a Woman's Day article, "Johnny Lingo and the Eight Cow Wife": "The lift of her shoulders, the tilt of her chin, the sparkle of her eyes all spelled a pride to which no one could deny her the right."

When McGerr later pressed Johnny Lingo for his reasoning, he explains, "Many things can change a woman. Things that happen inside, things that happen outside. But the thing that matters most is what she thinks about herself. In Kiniwata, Sarita believed she was worth nothing. Now she knows she is worth more than any other woman in the islands ... I wanted an eight-cow wife."

Now, for obvious reasons, please do not immediately tell your beloved, "Hon, you're an eight-cow wife." But remember that, at least in part, a man's impact may be measured in the joy and character of the people closest to him.

The way that a man sees his wife, the way he cherishes her, has a lasting effect on her beauty within and without.

How does your wife feel about you and your relationship to her? How do you want your children to remember your acts of love for their mother?