If you think your woman would never lie to you, guess again. From little white lies to the more serious variety, most women will curtail¹ the truth at some point in a relationship. Her motivation for lying can stem from wanting to protect your feelings or, sure enough, to save her own butt².

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her thimble fell into the river. When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, 'My dear child, why are you crying?' The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family. The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set with sapphires³.

'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked The seamstress replied, 'No.'

The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a golden thimble studded with rubies⁴.

'Is this your thimble?' the Lord asked. Again, the seamstress replied, 'No.'

The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.

'Is this your thimble ?' the Lord asked. The seamstress replied, 'Yes.' The Lord was pleased with the woman's honesty and gave her all three thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the water. When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, 'Why are you crying?' 'Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!'

The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney. 'Is this your husband?' the Lord asked.

'Yes,' cried the seamstress. The Lord was furious. 'You lied! That is an untruth!' The seamstress replied, 'Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding. You see, if I had said 'no' to George Clooney, you would have come up with Brad Pitt.

Then if I said 'no' to him, you would have come up with my husband. Had I then said 'yes,' you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands, so THAT' S why I said 'yes' to George Clooney.

And so the Lord let her keep him.

The moral of this story is:

Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and honorable reason, and in the best interest of others. That's our story, and we're sticking to it.

中文译文】

如果你认为你的女人从不会对你撒谎，请再仔细考虑一下。大部分女人，小到善意的谎言，大到更为严重的假话，都会在牵涉到某种关系的某一点时掩饰真相。她的撒谎动机也许是想要保护你的情感，或者是，可以相当肯定地说，维护她自身的利益。

有一天，一个女裁缝坐在河边干活时，不小心把顶针掉进了河里。当她大声哭喊时，上帝出现了，问她：“我亲爱的孩子，你为什么哭啊？”女裁缝回答说，她的顶针掉进河里了，她很需要这个顶针，好用它来帮助丈夫为一家人谋生。上帝把手伸进河里，捞上来一个金灿灿的镶嵌着蓝宝石的顶针。

“这是你的顶针吗？”上帝问道。女裁缝回答：“不是。”

上帝又把手伸进河里。他这次手上拿着的是一个金灿灿的镶嵌着红宝石的顶针。

“这是你的顶针吗？”上帝问道。女裁缝再次回答：“不是。”

上帝再次把手伸进河里，这次他手上拿的是一枚皮制顶针。

“这是你的顶针吗？”上帝问道。女裁缝回答：“是的。”上帝很为女人的诚实高兴，就把三个顶针都给了她，女裁缝高高兴兴地回了家。

几年以后，女裁缝和丈夫沿着河岸走着，突然她的丈夫掉进了河里，消失在水下。女裁缝大哭的时候，上帝又出现了，问她：“你为什么哭啊？”“主啊，我的丈夫掉进河里了！”

上帝到了河里，把乔治·克鲁尼救了上来。“这是你的丈夫吗？”上帝问道。

“是的，”女裁缝喊道。上帝大怒。“你撒谎！那不是真话！”女裁缝回答道，“噢，我的主，请宽恕我。这是一个误会。你瞧，如果我对乔治说：‘不’，你会再救上来一个布莱德·皮特。

那么如果我对他说‘不’，你又会把我丈夫救上来。如果我说‘是的’，你会把他们三个都给我。主啊，我身体不太好，不能把三个丈夫都照顾好啊，所以我就对乔治-克鲁尼说‘是’了。”

而上帝因此就让女裁缝留着乔治做丈夫了。

这个故事的寓意是：

不管一个女人何时撒谎，那是为了一个善意的和高尚的理由，而且是对别人最有利的。这就是我们要讲的故事，而且我们对此坚信不疑。