Once upon a time there was a young woman who was almost blind. For this reason, it was practically impossible for her to get any sweethearts.

Every day she got water from the well. Her neighbour was a widower, who had recently moved to the area. He saw her there at the well every day.

"You're always pretty busy," he said. "I would like to have you as my housekeeper."

"I don't want to come to you as a housekeeper," she said, and ran off fast.

She lived with her mother, who was a widow. On Sunday evening, the floor was neatly swept with sand. When everything was neat and tidy, there was somebody at the door. It was their neighbour. He came to see the daughter. They got talking and went for a walk later that evening. They agreed he would come around again the next Sunday evening.

Then her mother put a tiny needle on the floor and the daughter memorized its exact spot.

At a certain moment, when her lover had been around for a while, she suddenly said, "I say, Barend, is that a needle over there?"

She picked up the needle, and Barend mentioned that the people from the village said that her eyesight wasn't all that good. He now understood, however, that this was mere gossip.

It was agreed that Barend would come round again the next Sunday evening.

But that evening, things went wrong. When they returned from their walk, the coffeepot was on the table. But she mistook it for the cat and said, "Shoo Puss!" And immediately she knocked the entire pot full of piping hot coffee off the table.

Barend knew enough now. He never returned there. Years later the young woman ended up in a mental home. By that time, she couldn't see anything anymore. It was there that she told her story.