An Italian, a German, and an Australian football fan were arrested in a 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 grin the Italian drinks the beer and binds the pillow to his naked back.
But after ten lashes the pillow falls apart and he has to painfully endure the remaining ten lashes which leave deep welt marks on his back.
The German saw all of this and spends a few minutes thinking before smiling. “I would like to have two pillows for my back”.
The Sultan agrees, however after 15 lashes of the whip, both pillows have fallen apart and the German has to painfully endure the remaining five lashes.
The Australian is grinning from ear to ear and mutters something under his breath about a silly penalty. “OK, my first wish is to double the number of lashes to 40.” There is stunned silence.
The Italian, German and Sultan are a little surprised by the first wish but then recall the strong fighting performance the Aussies put up during the recent World Cup.
They all 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.