THESEUS: I wonder if the lion be to speak.
DEMETRIUS: No wonder, my lord. One lion may when many asses do.
– William Shakespeare
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1. Theseus wonders if the performer dressed as a lion will speak. Demetrius responds with a joke and pun: why not, if all the other "asses" can talk? Demetrius is anticipating the foolishness of the acting they are about to watch, as the bungling Mechanicals manage to turn a tragic love story into something hilarious.