Beware - THE COW FROM MINSK

The little village of Chelm in Poland had only one cow and one day it stopped giving milk. The townspeople did a little research and discovered they could get a cow from Moscow for 2000 rubles or one from Minsk for only 500 rubles.

Being thrifty, they naturally bought the cow from Minsk. It was a great cow. It had a wonderful disposition and produced lots of milk, lots of butter and lots of cream. Everybody loved it dearly. So much so that the villagers decided they would mate the cow and raise more cows just like it so they would never have to worry about their milk supply again.

When the cow went in to heat, they went back to Minsk and hired a bull to mate with the cow. They put the bull with the cow in a pasture and let nature take its course.

But when the bull came in to mount the cow from the right, the cow moved to the left. When the bull moved in to mount the cow from the left, the cow shifted to the right. She refused to let him mount her. This went on all day.

Finally, in desperation, the villagers decided to go ask the Rabbi what to do. After all, everyone knew the rabbi was very, very wise. They gathered around him and told him the story.

"Rabbi, we've tried all day to mate our cow. When the bull comes in from the right the cow moves left, and when the bull comes in from the left the cow moves to the right. What should we do?"

The rabbi pondered for a moment and then asked, "Did you buy this cow from Minsk?" "Rabbi!" they cried as one, "you are indeed wise! We never said where we bought the cow! How did you know it came from Minsk?"

Shaking his head, the rabbi said sadly, "My wife is from Minsk".