Frederick the Great

Frederick the Great heard of a preacher in Silesia who had the reputation of being in contact with spirits. He sent for the man and received him with the question "You can conjure up spirits?" The reply was: "At your Majesty's command. But they don't come."

A French joke

"Why," it was asked, in times that are now past, "have the French rejected Lohengrin?" "On Elsa's (Elsass [Alsace]) account."

A joke of Lichtenberg's

January is the month in which we offer our dear friends wishes, and the rest are the months in which they are not fulfilled.

Schadchen

A Schadchen had brought an assistant with him to the discussion about the proposed bride, to bear out what he had to say. "She is straight as a pine tree," said the Schadchen. - "As a pine tree," repeated the echo. -"And she has eyes that ought to be seen!" - "What eyes she has!" confirmed the echo. - "And she is better educated than anyone!" - "What an education!" - "It's true there 's one thing," admitted the broker, "she has a small hump." - "And what a hump!" The echo confirmed once more.

Dangerous Pudding

A three-and-a-half-year-old girl gave this warning to her brother: "I say, don't eat so much of that pudding or you will have to have some 'Bubizin'." "'Bubizin'?" asked her mother, "What's that?" "When I was ill," answered the child in self-justification, "I had to have some Medezin."

Serenissimus

Serenissimus was making a tour through his provinces and noticed a man in the crowd who bore a striking resemblance to his own exalted person. He beckoned to him and asked: "Was your mother at one time in service in the Palace?" - "No, your Highness," was the reply, "but my father was."

The Joke That Made Me Start This Blog

An innkeeper had a whitlow on his finger and the baker said to him: "You must have got that by putting your finger in your beer." "It wasn't that," replied the innkeeper, "I got a piece of your bread under my nail."