Peculiarities of the National Hunt

As Raivo gets acquainted with the group, one of them cracks that the Russian elephant is the best friend of the Finnish elephant, a line which leaves the Finn completely bewildered. This is a reference to a well-known Soviet joke poking fun at academics whose adherence to the party line often resulted in nonsense. The joke: Competing to write a book on African elephants, a Frenchman produces a volume on the love lives of elephants; a German writes a 21-volume series titled "A Brief Introduction to the African Elephant", and the Soviet writer comes up with just one sentence: "The African elephant is the best friend of the Soviet elephant."

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