The ruler of all ancient kingdom wanted to disprove the statement that the men of his domain¹ were ruled by their wives. He had all the males in his kingdom brought before him and warned that any man who did not tell the truth would be punished severely². Then he asked all the men who obeyed their wives’ directions and counsel to step to the left side of the hall.

 

All the men did so but one little man who moved to the right.

 

"It's good to see," said the king, "that we have one real man in the kingdom. Tell these chicken-hearted dunces why you alone among them stand on the right side of the hall."

 

"Your Majesty," came the reply in a squealing³ voice, "it is because before I left home my wife told me to keep out of crowds."

 

传说，古代有个国家的臣民都受妻子管制。国王很想驳斥这一传言。于是，他把全国的男人都召来，并警告说，要严惩任何不讲真话的人。然后，国王命令那些顺从妻子的男人站到大厅的左边。

 

结果，所有的男人都站到了左边，唯独一个小个子男人站到了右边。

 

“太好了，”国王说，“我们国家到底还是有一位真正的男子汉。你告诉这些软弱无能的笨蛋，为什么这么多人中只有你站在大厅的右边。”

 

“陛下，”那个男人尖声尖气地答道，“因为在出门之前，我老婆告诉我，不许扎堆。”

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