The Wife Wrapt in Wether's Skin

Synopsis

A man has married a woman of higher birth than him. She scorns the household labor. The man kills a wether (castrated male sheep), skins it, and wraps her in it. He declares that he can not beat her, but he can certainly beat a wether's skin. She recants her refusal and works.

In other variants, such as "Ruggleton's Daughter of Iero", he does not have a pretext for his beating her not really being beating her.