An old punster made the king the butt of most of his jokes. Consequently, he was loved by the people, but hated by the king.
The king endured the ridicule for months. One day, after hearing people in the streets repeating some of their favorite quips, he had had enough. He had the following statement posted around the royal city:
“By royal decree, anyone who tells a pun will be hanged by the neck until he is dead.”
The old punster kept telling his jokes, including puns. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged at dawn in a week’s time.
The king’s conscience was pricked. He didn’t want to execute a citizen for merely telling jokes. So the king sent a message to the hangman on the morning of the execution, telling him that the old man was to be given a pardon if he promised never to tell another pun.
The old man couldn’t imagine living in a world where he could not tell a pun. So he replied, “No noose is good news,” and died gladly.
