Laughing time

Jokes and short stories from Sierra Leone

The Chimpanzee
A bar owner had a small chimpanzee that was always sad and never laughed. This bar owner became so concerned that he offered free drinks for a full day to anyone who would make his melancholy chimp laugh. The news soon got around about the challenge and many people from various parts of Freetown came to try their luck.

Days passed into weeks, and weeks into months, but no one was able to make this sad little chimp laugh, despite so many tries. The bar owner had just about given up hope when one day, a scrawny, pale complexioned and prematurely aging fellow came into the bar. He was wearing baggy trousers a few sizes too large that were held firmly to his waist by an ancient belt that had seen betters times about half a decade ago. His shoes were a few sizes too small and seemed glued and contoured to his feet.

This fellow came up to the bar owner and said he was there for the challenge to make the chimp laugh. The bar owner looked at the pathetic fellow and said, “Go right ahead, that’s the chimp in the corner, I call him Brigadier. Take all the time that you have my friend, just don’t get into the way of my paying customers”

The scrawny fellow was unfazed by the sarcastic remark and moved gingerly up to the melancholy chimp and whispered in its ear. The chimp let out a big yahoo and burst into loud and hilarious laughter. Everybody in the bar was surprised and amazed at the same time. The bar owner came over to the fellow and asked, “Did you really do that? I bet you did not. Go ahead try again; you are not getting free drinks by accident.”

The poor fellow again went up to the chimp and whispered slowly into its ear. This time the Chimp screamed a loud yahoo and launched into such side-splitting laughter that it had tears streaming down its face. Word soon spread like wild fire in Harmattan that a funny looking fellow had made the miserable ape laugh. People rushed to the bar from all around Mountain Cut to see this amazing spectacle. People edged the fellow on, “please do it again. Please, just one more time.” The fellow relented reluctantly, as he was eager to start feasting on his free drinks and was eyeing a cold bottle of Star Beer in the corner longingly. “Alright, alright just one more time and then I should get my drinks.”

He walked again to the chimp and whispered in its ear. This time the little chimp gave a loud yell, went into laughing tantrums and fled onto the street adjoining the bar. The bar owner was really amazed that this fellow had done three times in a single day what others have tried for months to do, but had failed. He came up to the scrawny fellow and said,
“Brother, I am ready to serve you all the beer you can drink. I just want to know what you told the chimp that made it laugh so hard”

The scrawny man said, “Firstly, I told the chimp that I was a teacher. That was what made it laugh so hard.”
The bar owner said, “What then did you say that made the chimp laugh until it cried?”
The teacher replied “I told him my salary. That was enough to make the chimp laugh until it cried” “What did you tell him to make him runaway? The teacher answered, “I asked him if he wanted to be a teacher”