岳母大人

A newly married farmer and his wife were visited by her mother， who immediately demanded an inspection of their farm. The farmer had genuinely tried to be friendly to his new mother-in-law， hoping that it could be a friendly， non-antagonistic relationship.But all his efforts were in vain， as she kept nagging them at every opportunity， demanding changes， offering unwanted advice， and generally making life unbearable to the farmer and his new bride.

One day， while they were walking through the farm， the farmer's mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law in the head， killing her instantly. It was a shock to all in spite of their feelings toward her demanding ways.

At the funeral service a few days later， the farmer stood near the coffin and greeted folks as they walked by. The pastor noticed that whenever a woman whispered something to the farmer， he would nod his head yes and say something. Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer， however， he would shake his head no， and mumble a reply.

Very curious to this strange behavior， the pastor later asked the farmer what that was all about. The farmer replied， \"The women would say， 'What a terrible tragedy' and I would nod my head and say 'Yes， it was. ' The men would then ask， 'Can I borrow that mule?' and I would shake my head and say， 'I can't， it's all booked up for a year.'\"

一位新婚的農(nóng)夫和他的妻子接待妻子母親大人的來(lái)訪，這位母親一到就要看看他們的農(nóng)場(chǎng)。農(nóng)夫真心實(shí)意地以友好的態(tài)度接待他的新任岳母，希望建立起友善的、非對(duì)抗性的關(guān)系，然而這一切都是徒勞。岳母大人一有機(jī)會(huì)就不斷地指手畫腳，不停地要求改這換那，不斷地提出不受歡迎的建議，總而言之，這種日子讓農(nóng)夫和他的新娘感到忍無(wú)可忍。

一天，當(dāng)他們一家三口走過(guò)農(nóng)場(chǎng)的時(shí)候，農(nóng)夫的騾子突然暴跳起來(lái)，正好踢中岳母的頭，岳母當(dāng)場(chǎng)死去。盡管夫婦倆對(duì)母親的專橫苛求不滿，但對(duì)她的死還是感到很震驚。

在幾天后的葬禮上，農(nóng)夫站在棺材旁，同前來(lái)的鄉(xiāng)親們打招呼。牧師注意到每當(dāng)有女士低聲同農(nóng)夫講話時(shí)，農(nóng)夫都會(huì)點(diǎn)頭稱是，然后說(shuō)點(diǎn)什么。而每當(dāng)有男士低聲同農(nóng)夫講話時(shí)，他都會(huì)搖頭拒絕什么，又咕噥著回答點(diǎn)什么。

牧師對(duì)農(nóng)夫的古怪行為很好奇，就問(wèn)他到底是怎么回事。農(nóng)夫答道:“女士們會(huì)說(shuō):‘真不幸啊!’那我就會(huì)點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭說(shuō):‘是啊，真不幸。’男士們則問(wèn):‘你能借我那頭騾子用用嗎?’我就搖搖頭說(shuō):‘不行啊，這頭騾子已經(jīng)被預(yù)訂滿一年了?！薄?/p>