Joke

The man was lonely so he went to his local petshop and asked for an animal that would make a good companion for him, as he was allergic to birds and fish. The petshop owner recommended a hamster, so the man bought two hamsters, some hamster food, and a special cage.

The next day the man was back in the petshop. 'Those two ham- sters you sold me have died. There must have been something wrong with them. Can I have two more, please?' The petshop owner gave him two more hamsters and the man left the shop. But next day the man returned and said:

'This is ridiculous! The two hamsters you gave me yesterday fell down and died this morning. I'll buy your entire stock of hamsters - then perhaps I might get two that will live a reasonable length of time - and perhaps even breed and keep me amused.'

The petshop owner sold the man his complete stock of hamsters - all fifty-eight of them - and the man left the petshop. Two days later the petshop owner was horrified to find the man in his shop again. 'All the hamsters have died,' said the man. 'I don't want anything to do with animals ever again - they just seem to curl up and die just to spite me. But it seems a pity to waste all the hamster bodies - is there anything you can suggest to do with them? It seems horrible to have to throw them in the dustbin.'

Well, said the petshop owner, 'if you mash them all up and then boil them until you get a sort of gooey stuff, this makes excellent fertilizer for the garden.'

The man left the shop and went home to follow the petshop owner's instructions. But a week later the man was back in the petshop. 'I really must congratulate you on your excellent suggestion,' said the man. 'I did as you suggested with the hamster bodies and in no time at all I had seven gigantic beanstalks in my garden. In fact, they were so high I had to stick red lights on top of them to warn airplanes to keep away.

That hamster mixture really is amazing stuff for beanstalks.' 'You know,' said the petshop owner. 'That's incredible. You usually get Tulips From Hamster Jam.'