An Italian workman wants a job, but the foreman won’t hire him until he passes a simple math test.
“Here’s your first question,” says the foreman.
“Without using numbers, represent the number nine.”
“Withouta numbers?” the Italian says. “Datsa easy!”
He draws three trees.
“What’s this?” the foreman asks.
“Ay, you gotta no brain? Tree and tree and tree… dat make nine!”
“Fair enough,” says the foreman. “Now the second question: same rules, but represent ninety-nine.”
The Italian thinks for a moment, then takes his drawing and smudges each tree.
“There you go.”
The foreman frowns. “How does that represent ninety-nine?”
The Italian replies,
“Eacha tree is now a dirty tree. So you got dirty tree, dirty tree, dirty tree… dat’s ninety-nine!”
The foreman starts to worry but continues:
“Alright… last question. Same rules again. Represent one hundred.”
The Italian stares for a while, then adds a little mark at the base of each tree.
“There you go. One hundred.”
The foreman looks confused.
“You must be crazy if you think that represents one hundred!”
The Italian leans in and says:
“A little dog come along and do his business by eacha tree…
so now you got dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd… dat make one hundred!”
He smiles and adds:
“So… whenna I start?”
