??ONE REAL MAN

The ruler of an ancient kingdom wanted to disprove the statement that the men of his domain 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 severely（严肃地，严肃地）.

Then he asked all the men who obeyed their wives’ directions and counsel（?担髡牛﹖o 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

chickenhearted（胆怯的） dunces（傻瓜） why you alone among them stand on the right side of the hall.

Your Majesty , came the reply in a squealing voice , it is

because before l left home my wife told me to keep out of crowds.

【中文译文】

一个真实的男人汉

古代有一个国王，他想证明他疆域内的男人并非像我们传说的那样，遭到老婆的控制。他把王国内一切的男人都召到跟前，警告说，哪个男人竟敢不说真话，就会遭到赏罚。

然后，他叫一切遵循老婆的指令和定见的男人都走向大厅的左面。一切的男人都站到了左面，只需一个小个子男人站到了右侧。

国王说：看到咱们国家里还有一个真实的男人汉，真是令人高兴。告诉这些胆怯的痴人，为啥在他们傍边只需你一自个站在大厅的右侧。

陛下，那人尖声地答复：因为在出门之前，我老婆告诉我不要扎堆。