Laura Ashe @lauraashe.bsky.social
It’s told by Thomas More at the end of his History of Richard III (c.1525): a fable that the lion announces execution of all horned beasts, and another with a lump on its forehead flees the forest: “Why fleest thou? That’s no horn on thy head” “Aye, but what if he call it a horn, where am I then?”
It’s true. I checked here.
There is a 1987 paper tracking the joke through history: A Romanian Political Joke in 12th Century Iranian Sources by Mahmoud Omidsalar (Hat tip)
This is the 12th century version (Hat tip):
https://archive.org/details/AnvarisDivanAPocketBookforAkbar/page/n119/mode/2up
Allegedly, expressions along the lines of “to prove you are not a camel” are common in Poland and Russia for tedious bureaucratic demands.