A man and a woman were newly married. The husband went to work in the city every day while the wife took care of the house.
But in the evening, the man often came home in a bad mood. He was angry and annoyed, and every word annoyed him. Soon the wife could no longer stand the bad mood in the house and asked him: "How is it that you often come home in a bad mood?"
"Oh, you know, there are so many things at work that annoy me and make me angry, and then I just come home in a bad mood."
"Well," said the woman, "I'm angry and in a bad mood sometimes too. Who knows what will happen if we're both in a bad mood on the same day. You should give me a sign so that I know when you're in a bad mood so that I can prepare myself."
"That's a good idea," he said. "But what sign should I give you?"
The men used to wear a red fez with a long black tassel hanging down the side. So he said: "Now I know: on the days when I'm in a bad mood, I'll hang the tassel from my fez to the front. Then you'll know and won't have to take my bad words too much to heart."
"That's good," said the woman, "And I'll give you a sign too. If I'm wearing a white apron, you'll know that I'm in a bad mood that day."
From that day on, the woman looked out of the window onto the street every evening. When her husband approached the house, she could see whether the tassel of his fez was hanging down at the side or swinging back and forth at the front like the tail of an angry elephant. If it was hanging forward, she quickly fetched her white apron and tied it around her.
As soon as the man entered the house, he saw the white apron and knew that she was in a bad mood. He pulled himself together and tried to put his own bad mood aside and spend the evening peacefully.
This went on for a few days, but eventually the man noticed that the woman always wore her white apron when the tassel of his fez was hanging forward.
"Dear wife, how is it that you are always in a bad mood on the same days as me?"
"Dear husband, Allah has given people wisdom, but anger drives it away.
How about you get rid of your bad mood before you come home, so I will get rid of mine too and we can be together peacefully every evening."
The man recognized the wisdom in his wife's words and said, "You're right, let's do it that way." From that day on, he no longer carried his bad mood home with him and his wife no longer needed to put on her white apron. So they lived happily ever after.

Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: S. P. Jamali, Folktales from the City of the golden Domes, Beirut 1965, englische Fassung Lysander Jaenike © Mutabor Märchenstiftung