An Italian, a German and an Australian soccer fan were arrested in an
small Arabian state when they were caught peeing on a religious
building after an all night drinking binge.
The trio have to face up to the local sultan and are dished out the
typical punishment for religious desecration - 20 lashes of the whip
to the back.
But the Sultan was a big football fan so he kindly granted them two
wishes each - but they were not allowed to change the number of lashes
or the type of punishment.
The Italian says "Well we are the World Champions so I go first. I
want the pleasure of a beer and a pillow." The Sultan grants
his wishes.
With a wide grin the Italian drinks his beer and binds the pillow to
his naked back.
But after 10 lashes the pillow falls apart and he has to painfully
endure the remaining 10 lashes which leave deep welt marks on his
back.
The German saw all this and spends a few minutes thinking before
smiling. "I would like to have two pillows for my back".
The Sultan thinks about the uniqueness of the wishes but decides to
grant it given he has used up his two wishes in one go.
However after 15 lashes of the whip both pillows have fallen apart and
the German has to painfully endure the remaining 5 lashes which leave
deep welt marks on his back.
The Australian is grinning from ear to ear and mutters something under
his breath about a penalty. "Ok my first wish is to double the number
of lashes to 40."
There is stunned silence in the hall.
The Italian, German and Sultan are a little surprised at the first
wish but then remember the strong fighting performance the Aussies put
up during the World Cup in Germany 2006.
The Italian and German look at each other and nod in admiration -
obviously this Aussie wants to show how tough he is.
The Sultan asks the Aussie for his second wish.
"Tie the Italian to my back" he replies.