Nobody does marriage hell like Brazil's Dalton Trevisan. In this tale factory worker João can't take the fact his wife Maria is so much better than he is. Thus he heads off for the corner bar.
Maria strikes out, begins singing locally and win some prizes. "She's still going to get some boos," was João's comment. "With one good boo she'll learn."
Then dark Maria takes the next step, she bleaches her hair. João really can't take this new development and starts to sleep in the storeroom, roaring curses and thumping the wall.
Maria packs their two little sons up and moves in with her parents. João turns into a complete drunk and gets himself fired from his factory job.
Maria wants to come back. João replies that she can stay where she is and wouldn't want Maria even if she was painted silver.
The boys are sent to an orphan home but visit their Papa who takes them to see the monkeys at the zoo. He drinks his cane liquor behind a tree. The following morning the boys see their Papa is very still. He's dead, says one of the sons. Dalton ends the story: "Without crying, huddling on the edge of the bed, they held hands and listened to the morning sparrows."
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