Story - The Boss: The Taming of The Shrew

Martynko, a lonely man, asked to marry the priest's daughter, Ustinia. The priest warned him that Ustinia was a difficult, stubborn, and shrewish woman. Martynko decided to marry her anyway, and took her to his home in another town.

After marriage, he pretended to get drunk on water, became violent and scared his wife.(1) Ustinia was very unhappy and wanted to visit her family. Martynko would go only if she were harnessed to the sledge and pulled it all the way. Upset and angry, she had no choice but to agree.(2)

When they came close to her father's house, her mother and sisters helped the exhausted Ustinia to drag the sledge into the yard. Her father, the priest, thanked Martynko for teaching his shrewish daughter a lesson.

For the trip home, Ustinia begged her father for a horse, which he gave them. She and Martynko drove home, and she became an obedient wife.(3)

1. The Boss is a husband who rules over his household in tyrannical fashion.

2. He imposes his will on his wife through abuse, punishment, and/or emotional control.

3. He is determined to have a compliant submissive wife and is supported by the community in this goal.