THE OLD MULE
An old farmer had a wife who nagged him
unmercifully. From morning
night (and sometimes later), she was always
complaining about something.
The only time he got any relief was when he was out
plowing with his old
mule. He plowed as often as he could. One day,
when he was out plowing,
his wife brought him lunch in the field. He drove
the mule into the
shade, sat down on a stump, and began to eat.
Immediately, his wife began
nagging him again. Complain, nag, nag; it just went
on and on. All of a
sudden, the old mule lashed out with both hind feet
– caught her smack
in the back of the head. Killed her dead on the spot.
At the funeral several days later, the minister
noticed something rather
odd. When a woman mourner would approach the old
farmer, he would listen
for a minute, then nod his head in agreement; but
when a male mourner
approached him, he would listen for a minute, then
shake his head in
disagreement. This was so consistent, the minister
decided to ask the old
farmer about it.
After the funeral, the minister spoke to the old
farmer and asked him why
he nodded his head and agreed with all the women,
but always shook his
head and disagreed with the men. The old farmer
said, “Well, the women
would come up and say something about how nice my
wife looked, or how
pretty her dress was, so I’d nod my head in
agreement.”
“And what about the men?” the minister asked.
“They wanted to know if the mule was for sale.”