Two friends, Ahmad and Said, who got married around the same time met one day. Ahmad asked Said:" how is your married life?" Said answered:" my wife is very obedient and comes from a good family." Ahmad asked again:" Have you never beaten her, not once?" Said answered:" why should I beat her? I love her, and she always meets my every need." "I beat my wife once every week," said Ahmad, " to remind her who the man of the house is." Each then went his own way, and met again after a few years. "How are you doing friend? Have you mustered up enough courage to beat your wife?" Said answered:" No, my friend, I won't beat her for no reason." "You're such a good man, but you should try this: buy 3 kilos of fish and ask her to cook the fish because you have guests, and leave the house quickly before she has time to ask you anything. When you return, reject everything she offers for dinner, and then you will find reason to beat her." Said did as Ahmad told him, and his wife was confused: how is she supposed to cook the fish? She then decided to cook three kinds: fried, grilled, and cooked with rice. Her husband returned with his friend, and she opened the door, leaving her child in the bathroom using the potty. Her husband immediately asked for the food, so she first brought the grilled fish with tomato sauce, and her husband said:" Is this grilled? I don't like it." So she quickly brought in the fried fish. "Nor do I like it fried, I like it cooked with rice." So, she brought him his request. "No, No, give us shit to eat" he screamed angrily, so she quickly brought him his son's potty. The two friends looked at each other, and Ahmad said:" truly, your wife deserves all the good in the world." Meanwhile, Said started apologizing to his wife.
Source: Al Ashhab, Rushdi. Kan Ya Ma Kan: popular stories from Jerusalem, Alloush publishing company,Jerusalem 1996.