A group of people were sitting around a stove on a wintry day when one man of phlegmatic temperament suddenly announced to one of those present: “I have noticed something going on for some time now, but have hesitated to tell you, since I know you are hot-tempered. Yet should I fail to inform you before long, I fear you may sustain bodily injury. Shall I go ahead and tell you or not?”
“Well, be out with it, man!” the hot-tempered fellow exclaimed. Consequently, the first man shouted: “Your robe is on fire, sir!” The victim of the blaze immediately ripped off his own robe and stamped out the flames. Enraged, he cursed the other, saying: “Since you already knew for some time that my clothing was burning, why the devil didn’t you tell me earlier?” “You see!” the first man chortled. “Just as I have said, I knew you’d get angry no matter what I did!”