John's Jokes

John von Neumann Seen by his Brother by Nicholas A. von Neuman.

In the jungles of a recently discovered continent, an explorer (E) assisted by an Interpreter (I) interviews the local native chief (C): 

 

E: Ask him how he feels about visitors from other continents. 

 

I: (To C in the local language) --- 

 

C: Krp. 

 

I: He says that although they had no preceding experience with such visitors, they would consider it a distinct advantage to get acquainted with some of them. Not necessarily for the sake of friendship, but rather for the purpose of exploiting mutually beneficial barter trade agreements. For this purpose their principal potential export products could be 

 

E: Now ask him if he would accept from us this gift which we brought along, as a token of our friendship and good intentions. 

 

I: (To C in local language) --- 

 

C: Kip dlvo wktli bba frtl nokvrt Dlkmok prstilqu krtkvk clfnxi tinv ... ... ... crx pdmkl 

 

I: He says, yes. (Context: primary and secondary languages.)

Further context - John van Neumann spoke five modern languages and two ancient languages.  Most of his family were similarly polyglot.