Is it considered a lie to say in a joke, "Once upon a time, someone did such and such," knowing that this could not possibly happen in reality?

It is permissible to listen to jokes, wonders, and narrate them if the intention is to use them as parables, admonitions, or for entertainment, not as proof, even if they are attributed to animals, because the listener knows they are not real. This is supported by the hadith: "Narrate from Banu Isra'il, and there is no harm, for there were wonders among them."