A certain man lay bedridden with a serious illness, and it appeared that his death was near. In her fear, his wife summoned a hakim, the local town doctor.
The hakim tapped around on the patient and listened for more than half an hour. He checked his pulse, put his head on the man's chest, turned him onto his stomach and then his side and back, raised the man's legs and body, opened his eyes, and looked in his mouth. Finally, with a great deal of conviction the hakim said, "My dear woman, unfortunately I must give you sad news. Your husband has been dead for two days."
At this very moment the ailing man raised his head in shock and whimpered anxiously, "No, my dearest, I am still alive!"
The wife pushed her husband back down onto the pillow with her hand and replied with irritation, "Be quiet! The hakim, a doctor, is an expert. He ought to know!"
Persian Tales
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