One night the moon rose above the tree tops. Below, she saw three women at the Tisza's banks discussing their children.
"Oh, my children are the best of the best" said the youngest one. "They are so sweet, they never cry when they are hungry, they never fuss when their diapers need changing, they always eat just what I put before them, they are kind to strangers and always gentle with the old people of the village."
"No, no," said the middle aged woman, "mine are the best of the best. Good scholars all of them, never dirty their clothes, the girls never dally with boys at school and they come straight home, the boys are good about doing chores about the house, they are always ready to go to church and school on time, I have no worries about any of them."
They both turned to the older one, and asked her "How about you Magda? How about your son?"
Magda sighed. "Oh, he is a real rascal that one. He has three daughters by different girls, promised to marry all of them but never will. He spends all his nights drinking and gambling at the inn, I can't tell you the number of times I have sat up nights worried about him coming home safely."
Magda sighed again. Then she softly smiled. "But he is the best son of them all."
The other two mothers looked stunned and asked her in amazement "Magda, how could such a boy be the best son of them all?"
"Oh, every Wednesday he comes over and chops enough wood for the week so his father doesn't have to strain his back. Every Saturday he walks me to the market and carries home all my purchases to save me the trouble. Every Holiday he brings me a joint of meat, a bottle of wine and some sweets so we can use his father pension for other things besides the feast."
Magda dropped her voice almost to a whisper. "But the best part of it all is that he stops by every night on his way home from work. He kisses me and his father on the forehead, asks us if he can do anything for us, and after doing the small thing that needs done, he thanks us and blesses us for being so good to him!"
All three women nodded and agreed that Magda's son was indeed the best of all sons. The moon smiled to herself for she alone knew that Magda's son often stood outside the windows of his parent's home as he walked home from the inn and watched his parents with a soft smile of great love on his face and hopes in his heart that he could find a woman to love as deeply as his father loved his mother.
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