There once lived a landlord and his wife; they were the only two inhabitants of their home. The landlord worked in the fields, while his wife attended to the household chores.
Both husband and wife possessed fiery temperaments, and they would often clash over the slightest of matters.
At times, the food the wife had painstakingly prepared would go entirely to waste due to their squabbles.
One day, the wife went to visit her relatives, where she encountered an elderly woman. During the course of their conversation, the landlord's wife confided in the older woman, saying, "My husband has a very irritable nature; he is constantly picking fights with me. Sometimes, because of this, the meals I have just finished cooking end up going to waste."
The elderly woman replied, "That is no major issue. Such things happen in every household. I happen to have an infallible remedy for this. Whenever your husband starts an argument with you, simply hold this medicine in your mouth; your husband will then fall silent on his own."
The elderly woman went inside, returned with a small vial filled with liquid, and handed it to her.
Upon returning home, the landlord's wife decided to put the remedy to the test. Whenever the landlord began to quarrel with her, she would place the medicine in her mouth.
This produced a remarkable effect; the frequency of the landlord's arguments decreased significantly. Delighted by this outcome, she happily returned to the elderly woman and said, "Your medicine has proven to be incredibly effective! Could you please tell me exactly what ingredients you put into it? I would like to prepare it at home myself, as making the trip back and forth repeatedly is quite difficult."
To this, the elderly woman replied, "The vial I gave you contained nothing but pure water. The true solution to your problem lay in your own silence.
When you held the 'medicine'—that is, the water—in your mouth, you were unable to speak; and witnessing your silence, your husband's anger would naturally subside. This is precisely what is meant by the saying, ''One moment of silence brings a hundred moments of peace."
The elderly woman then offered the landlord's wife a piece of advice: "Never forget this remedy, and continue to apply it in the future whenever the need arises."
The landlord's wife took the elderly woman's words to heart and happily returned home.