In Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, the fictional author of the "Foreword", Charles Kinbote, cites the following Russian joke: There were also numerous politically themed Chastushki (Russian traditional songs) in Imperial Russia. The Tsar gives his decision in writing: "Permitted to subtract two asses". A respected merchant, Sevenassov ( Semizhopov in the original Russian), wants to change his surname, and asks the Tsar for permission."No, sir, I meant not our respected Emperor, but another Nikolay!" - "Don't try to trick me: if you say "moron", you are obviously referring to our tsar!" A man was reported to have said: " Nikolay is a moron!" and was arrested by a policeman.Few of the political jokes of the time are recorded, but some were printed in a 1904 German anthology. ![]() In Imperial Russia, most political jokes were of the polite variety that circulated in educated society. 2.7 "The Soviet Union is the homeland of elephants".
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