An old one...
The (American) Indian Chief's daughter was to be wed, and the three suitors, two of them brothers, were sent away to bring back animal skins to show how worthy they were.
The first suitor goes to the prairie and quickly returns with a buffalo skin, which was deemed an easy but practical gift in the days before the white man. The second suitor, his brother, travels beyond the mountains to the north and after a while brings back the fur of a large white bear from the land of eternal ice, somewhat a novelty to the tribe and seen only rarely. The third suitor takes his canoe and crosses the great waters to the east, arriving back some time later with the large grey skin of a hippo, an exotic beast that none of the tribe had ever seen before, and knew only from the tales that the occasional norsemen passed on from their dealings with yet other traders.
By tradition, the value of each is estimated by the women of the tribe. Three decide they appreciate the buffalo skin for its practical utility, and common knowledge on how to use it in. Four admire the white fur from the north for its outstanding warming qualities and would like to try to make something ceremonial from it. Five of them, however, are astounded at the the novelty and waterproofed thickness of the latter, and the large area available that promises to inspire a number of possible uses, possibly including rainwear, tents or even boating.
It seeming the latter is to be the obvious winner, the first suitor decides to gift his haul to his brother to increase his claim, and a recount is made. But by tribal custom the women have a chance to decide again if the gifts are changed, and it seems likely that one of them disliked the merging of the lesser gifts as there are now six votes upon the latter one. This leaves the chief in a quandary as to the greater worthiness, the recount showing that all the squaw for the hippopotamus is now exactly equalled by the sum of the squaws for the other two hides...
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Topic: Terrible Jokes (Read 716163 times)