A young farmer was newly married and took his young bride off to his farm on a wagon pulled by a mule.
Part way down the road the mule stopped dead -- the farmer got down off the wagon, beat the mule across the back, and shouted, "Mule, that be once!"
A little further down the road the mule again came to a complete stop. The farmer got down again, and this time beat the mule so severely that he dropped down on the ground. This time, the farmer shouted, "Mule, this be twice!"
The mule staggered a little farther down the road and again stopped. The farmer reached around into his wagon, pulled out his shotgun, and let that mule have both barrels right between the eyes. He shouted, "Mule, that was thrice!"
At this his new bride could take no more and she shouted at him, "You fool, what have you down? You've killed a poor defenseless mule and left us stranded here on the road, not to mention the labor to be done back on the farm!"
At this, the farmer looked sternly at his bride and shouted, "Woman,
that be once!"
