We are spending our weekend here in Austin.
A few days back , after dinner, we were talking about this and that and narrating a few jokes.
I narrated a joke told by my neighbour in Madhurima, Dr. Mohan.
He once said that in the Royapettah hospital, the doctors used to narrate jokes while they were operating.
They got so used to hearing the same jokes and therefore they numbered the jokes and from then on
someone would just say: Joke No.4. And everyone would laugh aloud, remembering the joke.
Well you see this is a joke arising out of a real life situation and I thought that it was unique!
But similar situations arise around the globe, it seems. There is a large collection of books in my niece's place
in Austin and I picked up Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor. (I was always under the impression that Asimov
only wrote Science fiction).
As I am reading, came across this:
A newcomer to a certain summer resort was surprised to find a group of men gathered on the lawn one
evening shouting numbers at each other.
"Sixteen," one would yell, and all would laugh.
"One hundred and thirty-five," another would say, and all would laugh.
"Twenty-seven," a third would say, nearly choking with glee, and all would laugh.
"Two hundred and three," shouted someone, and this time every-one fell off his chair howling. The laughter
continued till some turned blue in the face and had to be pounded to keep them from suffocating.
Numbers continued to be called thereafter, and laughter, now more subdued, also continued.
Finally the newcomer spoke to one of the men on the fringes and said, "Pardon me, but tell me what's going on."
"Well," said the other, "this group meets every year at this resort, and night after night we swap stories.
Naturally, we all know the stories, so we gave them numbers and save time by calling the numbers."
The newcomer nodded. "I see. But tell me this, When someone shouted, "Two hundred and three," everyone laughed particularly loudly. Why was that?"
His informant chuckled. "Oh well, you see, that one we had never heard before".
A few days back , after dinner, we were talking about this and that and narrating a few jokes.
I narrated a joke told by my neighbour in Madhurima, Dr. Mohan.
He once said that in the Royapettah hospital, the doctors used to narrate jokes while they were operating.
They got so used to hearing the same jokes and therefore they numbered the jokes and from then on
someone would just say: Joke No.4. And everyone would laugh aloud, remembering the joke.
Well you see this is a joke arising out of a real life situation and I thought that it was unique!
But similar situations arise around the globe, it seems. There is a large collection of books in my niece's place
in Austin and I picked up Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor. (I was always under the impression that Asimov
only wrote Science fiction).
As I am reading, came across this:
A newcomer to a certain summer resort was surprised to find a group of men gathered on the lawn one
evening shouting numbers at each other.
"Sixteen," one would yell, and all would laugh.
"One hundred and thirty-five," another would say, and all would laugh.
"Twenty-seven," a third would say, nearly choking with glee, and all would laugh.
"Two hundred and three," shouted someone, and this time every-one fell off his chair howling. The laughter
continued till some turned blue in the face and had to be pounded to keep them from suffocating.
Numbers continued to be called thereafter, and laughter, now more subdued, also continued.
Finally the newcomer spoke to one of the men on the fringes and said, "Pardon me, but tell me what's going on."
"Well," said the other, "this group meets every year at this resort, and night after night we swap stories.
Naturally, we all know the stories, so we gave them numbers and save time by calling the numbers."
The newcomer nodded. "I see. But tell me this, When someone shouted, "Two hundred and three," everyone laughed particularly loudly. Why was that?"
His informant chuckled. "Oh well, you see, that one we had never heard before".
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