A long time ago, there lived a man and wife who were very close to each other. They shared everything and cared deeply for one another. They were such an affectionate couple that people in the neighborhood were jealous of their good marriage. However, one problem was that both were rather foolish and had voracious appetites.

One day, a neighbor brought them a dish of rice cake that had been offered on the table for his ancestral memorial rite. At the time, it was common to share food used in the memorial service with neighbors once the ceremony was over. The couple was delighted to have rice cake, which was one of their favorite foods. They sat across from each other and began to eat the rice cake. In the twinkling of an eye, all the rice cake was gone, except for one piece. Of course, both wanted to have the last remaining piece badly. But they were reluctant to put a hand on it, just trying to read each other’s thoughts. The husband expected that his wife would offer the rice cake to him, while the wife believed it was appropriate for her husband to give it to her. An awkward silence hung between them for a while. At last, the husband, smiling, suggested that the one who could go without speaking the longest would eat the last piece of the rice cake. The wife agreed and they sat still for hours in the room, not moving at all.

When night fell, a thief happened to break into the house. Still, the couple remained silent, having done so until then. At first, the thief was startled to see the couple and tried to escape quickly. But he soon realized there was something wrong with the couple. Both the man and the woman didn’t even turn their eyes toward the intruder. The thief came to believe that they must be deaf and mute. Feeling at ease, he walked around everywhere in the house to steal anything he wanted. Even then, although the couple knew their house was being burgled, they didn’t utter a word since they were solely focused on winning the rice cake. Soon, the thief became bold enough to enter the master room where the man and wife were seated and began to pack all the expensive items in the room into a bundle. Even at that moment, the stubborn couple still didn’t say a word and remained tight-lipped.

Now the thief thought he was ready to go. But before leaving, he looked around the house once again to check if there were any other valuable articles he missed. Then his eyes became fixed on the wife. The thief thought to himself, ‘The man and the woman are both deaf and mute. Who cares if I take her? He approached the wife and lifted her. When he was about to pack her into his bundle, the wife desperately looked at her husband, as if asking for help, but the husband was only staring at the rice cake. Finally, it was the wife who couldn’t stand it any longer, and she furiously shouted, “Hey! What on earth are you doing? Don’t you see what’s happening now?”

The thief was completely taken aback by the loud yelling of the woman, who he had thought was mute. He was so surprised that he forgot to take his bundle as he escaped from the house. So, what happened to the couple? As soon as the wife opened her mouth, the husband yelled out, “That’s it! The rice cake is mine.” Overjoyed, he lost no time in grabbing the rice cake and gobbled it up.

Can you believe him? What kind of husband is he? He may have won the rice cake, but I’m sure he must have lost his wife….