# I'm talking to the duck

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Joke
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-joke-talking-to-the-duck
- Themes: humour, relationships
- Life situations: needing a laugh, feeling unheard

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

Wife calls out whether tonight's dinner should be chicken, lamb or beef. Husband answers 'Chicken, dear.' She replies she wasn't talking to him — she was talking to the duck.

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

there was a little joke which I heard about this somebody told the other day about sort of the wife, you know, shouted out, "Oh, what do you want uh for dinner this evening? Chicken, lamb, or beef?" And the husband said, "Chicken, dear." And the wife said, "I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the duck." Which I think is uh typical of our modern world.

## Teaching point

(Joke about who gets heard at home.)

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A wife asks whether dinner should be chicken, lamb or beef; chicken, dear, says the husband. I'm talking to the duck, she replies. After the laugh, Ajahn Brahm's point is trust. Trust yourself enough to try, even meditation you think you can't do. If you fail, you learn. You're stronger than you think.

## Source

- [Trust | Ajahn Brahm | 01-04-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ4r0C3IcWU) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 50:50 to 51:17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ4r0C3IcWU&t=3050s

Other tellings of this story:

- [The Right to Believe? | Ajahn Brahm | 18-05-2007](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Prm3nAvFs) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 14:05 to 14:17: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Prm3nAvFs&t=845s