English Original
The ruler of an ancient kingdom wanted to disprove the claim that the men of his domain were ruled by their wives. He summoned all the males before him and warned that any man who did not tell the truth would be punished severely. Then he ordered all men who obeyed their wives' directions to step to the left side of the hall.
All the men did so—except for one little man who moved to the right.
"It is good to see," said the king, "that we have one real man in the kingdom. Tell these chicken-hearted dunces why you alone stand on the right side of the hall."
"Your Majesty," came the reply in a squealing voice, "it is because before I left home, my wife told me to keep out of crowds."
中文翻译
传说古代有个国王，想驳斥其治下男人都受妻子管制的说法。他将全国男子召至面前，警告说任何不讲真话的人都会受到严惩。然后，他命令所有听从妻子吩咐的男人站到大厅左侧。
所有的男人都照做了——唯独一个小个子男人站到了右边。
国王说：“太好了，看来我国还有一位真正的男子汉。告诉这些胆小的笨蛋，为什么只有你站在大厅右边。”
那个男人尖声答道：“陛下，因为出门前我妻子嘱咐我不要扎堆。”