Deep in the Appalachian hills, where visitors were as rare as a quiet fox, an old-timer found himself face-to-face with a salesman. With his wife away washing clothes, the man examined the peddler’s goods. Nothing caught his eye until he spotted a gleaming square of glass backed with silver. He lifted the mirror, utterly bewildered. A smile broke across his weathered face. “Well, I’ll be,” he exclaimed. “How in tarnation did you get a picture of my dear old Pappy?”
Thrilled with this seemingly magical likeness of his father, he didn’t hesitate. He swapped the mirror for his wife’s best pitcher, a family piece she cherished. The peddler, suppressing a smile, took the trade and vanished down the trail before the wife could return. The old man, knowing the storm that would come if she found out about the pitcher, tucked his new prize safely out of sight in the barn. He visited it often, finding comfort in the familiar face that looked back at him.
His frequent and secretive trips did not go unnoticed. His wife’s curiosity eventually boiled over into suspicion. What was he doing out there so often? One evening, she marched out to the barn to solve the mystery. After a short search, she found the object hidden behind some boxes. She lifted it and looked. Her heart sank. Staring back was the image of a weathered, older woman she did not recognize. In an instant, her suspicion crystallized into hurt and anger. She huffed, placing the mirror back down with a slam. All this sneaking around for a faded, old-looking hussy! She stomped back to the house, ready for a confrontation.
This classic tale plays on the comedy of ignorance, but without malice. It highlights how technology, no matter how simple, is only understood through experience. The mirror, a mundane object to most, became a portal to mystery for this couple. For him, it was a cherished heirloom; for her, it was evidence of betrayal. Their conflict arises not from any real wrongdoing, but from a gap in knowledge, making their argument both funnier and more poignant. It’s a sweet, simple joke about love, suspicion, and the funny things that happen when new things enter an old world.
