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Did people “back in the day” have a sense of humour? Or, are jokes something new to mankind?
Of course people have laughed throughout history, telling each other jokes and stories meant for laughter! However, what you’ve laughed at and considered funny has widely differed from timeperiod to timeperiod as well as from country to country.
In the following video, we will treat three very dry jokes (my favourite kind of jokes) which the German humanist teacher Jacobus Pontanus – or Jakob Spannmüller – translated from a Greek manuscript into Latin in the 16th century. Enjoy!
You will find the jokes transcribed below the video.
Video in Latin
Latin Jokes
1. Scholasticus volens videre an decore dormiret, clausis oculis speculum intuebatur.
2. Scholasticus vas vinarium, quod habebat obsignaverat. Quod cum famulus subtus perforaret, vinumque demeret, mirabatur ille salvis signis vinum imminui. Cui alter quidam “Vide” inquit ”ne subtus sit ablatum. Tum ille ”Stultissime,” inquit “non infra, sed supra deficit.”
3. Scholasticus somnum capere cupiens, cum pulvinum non haberet, servo mandavit ut amphoram capiti supponeret. Quo dicente nimis duram esse, iussit eam plumis impleri.