Hunglish.orgSo there's this Hungarian, this German and this American. Each of them owns a cow...
Written by Scott Savoie
There is an old joke that is told about Hungarians (I have heard it told about Poles and Czechs, as well) that goes something like this:
There is a (insert Central European national here), a German and an American. Each has a cow.
God comes down and kills all the cows, then asks the three what they want in return. The German, being shrewd, asks God for two cows in return. God gives the German two cows.
The American, being greedy, asks for ten cows. God gives the American the ten cows he asked for.
Upun seeing this, the Hungarian therefore asks for God to kill the other’s cows.
I heard this joke years ago, but it took me a few years more to realize that it’s not really a joke at all.
There are Hungarians whose sole purpose in life is watch others’ cows die. This is what springs them out of bed everyday: The thought that „Hey! Maybe I can revel in someone else’s despair today!”
The English word for this sounds awfully German: „schadenfreude,” which makes me think that maybe not all Germans are shrewd enough to ask for two cows.