Napoleon's parade joke English version

There is a story about a Swede who wants to join Napoleon's army. One night, some of Napoleon's soldiers were drinking together, and a young Frenchman brought his friend to their table. He explained that his friend was Swedish and didn't know French, but the Swede admired Napoleon very much, so he wanted to join the French army and fight for him.

The soldiers looked up and saw a tall young man with blue eyes, a friendly face, strong arms and broad shoulders. They fell in love with him immediately.

The officers found that he was the right person, so they accepted him and he became a soldier of Napoleon. His new friend overcame the difficulties. He fought bravely in many battles and won their respect. However, his knowledge of French is still very weak, because he is not good at learning languages, but this does not prevent him from fighting hard.

A few years later, the news came that Napoleon would personally visit them, and the Swedes were warned that the great man might ask him some questions. It was difficult to explain this to the Swede, but when he finally understood, he became very anxious.

"Swedes don't understand these problems." A Frenchman said, "What can he do?"

As we all know, Napoleon always asked the same three questions, and usually in the same order. The first question is, "How old are you?" The second question is, "How long have you been in my army?" The third question is, "Have you participated in my last two campaigns?"

The Swede can't remember all these words, so his friends decided to teach him only the answers in the right order. They gave him a lot of practice. Whenever possible, one of them will stop him, make him stand at attention and ask him three questions. "How old are you?" He will ask, and the Swede will answer, "23, sir." Then his friend will ask, "How long have you been in my army?" The Swede will reply, "Three years, sir." For the third question, "Have you participated in my last two campaigns?" Swedes will proudly answer, "both, sir!" "

This practice lasted for many days. Swedes will walk around and say to themselves, "23, sir. Three years, sir. Both, sir! " The day before the inspection, all his friends were satisfied. He knows his answer. There should be no trouble.

Napoleon is here. He stood in front of a straight line of soldiers and looked at them with great satisfaction. Then, he began to walk along the line, sometimes smiling and saying a few words everywhere. The Swede stood still, only his lips moved slightly. He is still practicing.

Napoleon suddenly saw the tall soldier and immediately realized that he had never seen him before. He stopped in front of the Swedes. For some reason, this time the great man started with the second question.

"How many years have you been in our army?" He asked.

"Twenty-three, sir," the Swede said clearly.

Napoleon was surprised. He looked at the tall man and asked, "How old are you?"

"Three years, sir," the Swede replied quickly.

Napoleon was surprised. "Either you are crazy or I am," he declared.

"Both, sir!" The Swede shouted proudly.

Definitely the original