Hittite Joke

I can't believe I keep forgetting to tell my Hittite joke.

Old Pastor Sjostedt had learned early to start off his sermons with a little joke, just to warm up the congregation.  Often it would be a Norwegian joke - those went down pretty well. But he was reading in the Scriptures one night and he saw   Säg bara sådant som är gott och till hjälp för dem som ni samtalar med, och som kan bli dem till välsignelse, which is "Say only things that are good and helpful to those you converse with, that will bless them."  He was deeply troubled. Some of these things would not bless a Norski who happened to drop in. But they are so funny! It seems such a shame...ah well.  

He went for months, and still found jokes to start with, but it was harder, and his preaching lacked that little punch it used to have, yah know? 

He was reading the Scriptures again, this time in Genesis, about Abraham negotiating with the Hittites. Are there any Hittites left? He wondered, and a little research showed that no, there were no Hittites anymore.  Long since disappeared. Ah, I have it, he said. I can tell my Norwegian jokes, but just change it to Hittites, and no one will be bothered. 

So he gets up to preach the very next Sunday and says "There were these two Hittites, Ole and Sven..."

*****

I actually used this principle in Romania when speaking in a Transylvanian village. There is a form of joke using two common names from a group, such as Jacques and Pierre, and making them dumb and dumber: "J: I threw those nails back in the bin because the heads are on the wrong end...P: "You fool, those are for the other side of the house!" "J: Fire three more shots in the air to attract attention...P: I can't. I am all out of arrows." I chose to tell them about Dmitri and Radu, my interpreter assuring me that these were names often used in Romanian jokes.  

It went over pretty well.  Some things translate decently to other cultures.