There was a poor man who did not drink. Before he went out each day, he would eat only two grain cakes, which invariably made him slightly tipsy. One day he met a friend who asked him:
“Did you have a cup of wine this morning?”
“Oh, no,” replied the man. “I only had some grain cakes for breakfast.”
After coming home, he told his wife about this and his wife said: “why didn’t you say you did have a cup of wine, just to keep up appearances.”
At that the man nodded to show his understanding. The next time he went out and happened to meet the same friend, who asked the same question. This time the man replied in the affirmative.
“Did you have it hot or cold?” his friend wanted to know.
“It was baked,” was the reply.
Thereupon his friend burst into laughter and said:
“You had nothing but grain cakes.”
When his wife came to hear of this later, she chided him:
“How stupid of you! No one ever bakes his wine. You should have said you drank it hot.”
“Now I see,” said the husband.
When he met that friend again, he boasted before his friend could say anything；
“This morning I drank my wine hot.”
“Really?” said the friend, “how much did you drink?”
“Two pieces,” said he, raising two fingers.