The Farmer’s Mother-In-Law

As newlyweds, a young farmer and his wife were visited by her mother. Almost instantly after entering the house, she started prying and being nosy. The farmer tried his best to be friendly and pleasant despite the woman's constant nagging and kibitzing at every opportunity; she demanded changes, offered unwanted advice, and generally made life unbearable for the farmer and his new bride.

One morning, while inspecting the barn at the mother-in-law's insistence, for some reason, the farmer's mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law in the head causing her to fall against the edge of a barrel of feed. The fall must have been reslly quite hard because it not only rendered her unconscious but it also killed her.

As the news spread, it was a shock to everyone regardless of how they felt toward the woman.

At the funeral, as the farmer and his stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by, the pastor noticed that whenever a woman whispered something to the farmer's ear, he nodded his head and said something, but whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer, he shook his head, and mumbled a reply.

To satisfy his curiosity, the pastor approached the farmer a few days later, and told the farmer of his observations, and asked the farmer what it was all about.

The farmer replied, "When the women said, 'What a terrible tragedy!' I nodded and responded, 'Yes, it was.' When the men asked, 'Can I borrow your mule?' I shook my head and replied, 'No, you can't. It's all booked up for a year.'"

Author Unknown