3 ms·
Reminiscent of this joke (see e.g. http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/holybook/quotes/Horse.html http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/holybook/quotes/Horse.html) O
by erehweb 3y ago
Reminiscent of this joke (see e.g. http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/holybook/quotes/Horse.html http://xenohistorian.faithweb.com/holybook/quotes/Horse.html)
Once upon a time a man was accused of a crime. [..] The king of that land sentenced the man to death, and he pleaded for his life, offering to teach the king's horse to talk if he would be spared. The king agreed; if the accused could teach the horse to talk in two years, he would be pardoned. Otherwise, the original sentence would be carried out.
Sometime after that, the man's best friend asked him why he made a promise he couldn't keep, and why he was acting so cheerful about the whole business. The would-be horse teacher said, "A lot can happen in two years. The king could die. I could die. Or the horse could talk."
- mananaysiempre 3y agoThat joke seems to be unbelievably old; I’ve heard a version with Nasreddin Hodja and a donkey (and the donkey is used almost universally when it’s told in Russian, despite donkeys not exactly being common in most of the country), but I wouldn’t bet on even that being the first iteration. (Neither do I have a good source for the authenticity of the Nasreddin version, unfortunately.)