Reading Nightmare

Farmers' wives are among the most avid readers in the country. A farmer at an I.F.A. meeting chatted in the foyer of the hotel during a break between sessions. He was told by Paddy that his (Paddy's) wife had been reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on the previous night and had given birth to a child that morning. Sean said that his wife had been reading At Swim Two Birds the previous week and had given birth to twins. John said that his beloved had been reading The Three Musketeers before she gave birth to her triplets. At this, the farmer jumped up shouting that he was leaving the meeting. His friends asked why and, rushing away, he shouted. 'When I left my wife this morning she was reading The Birth of a Nation.'