They tell about a Yankee captain and his assistant.
The ship's cook often prepared pudding with raisins, but, by order of the captain, he only put raisins in one half of the pudding. The pudding was placed on the table with this end facing the captain. He was the first to cut himself a piece, which contained all the raisins, and passed the pudding to his assistant.
So the assistant got pudding without raisins over and over again. He got pretty tired of it, and he persuaded the steward to deliver the pudding with the empty end to the captain next time. Which is what the steward did. But the captain immediately noticed it. He took the dish with the pudding, lifted it, as if carefully examining the china, and, turning the dish one hundred and eighty degrees, put it back on the table, remarking:
“To think that this dish cost me two shillings in Liverpool!”
- Really? - The assistant expressed surprise.
And as if nothing had happened, he also lifted the dish and, turning it one hundred and eighty degrees, lowered it onto the table, with the raisins facing him, of course.
“Personally, I wouldn’t give more than one shilling for it!” - he concluded.
The captain looked carefully at his assistant. The assistant looked carefully at his captain. The captain laughed. The assistant too.
- You caught me! Well done, guy! - said the captain. - Let's cut the pudding lengthwise this time.
And another time the captain ordered the cook, when he was preparing pudding for dinner, to put raisins in it
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru