A salesman was traveling through the countryside selling insect repellent.
He came to a ranch and tried his luck with the farmer. “Sir, my insect repellent is so good you’ll never be bitten again. I guarantee it.”
The farmer hesitated.
“Young man, I have a proposition for you.
I’ll tie you up naked in the paddock with my cows and rub you with this insect repellent.
If you don’t have a single bite by morning, I’ll buy a whole box from you and make everyone in the province buy a box… then we’ll make you rich.”
The salesman was thrilled.
They went to the field, and he stripped naked.
The farmer sprayed him thoroughly with insect repellent and tied him to a pole.
The farmer went back to the house.
The next morning, the farmer and his family walked to the paddock.
And sure enough, there was the salesman, hanging in chains, not a single bite in sight.
Yet he was a wreck! Pale, hideous, haggard and worn out, yet not a single bite.
The farmer was stunned. “Son,” he said, “you haven’t a bite, but you look awful! What the hell happened?”
The salesman looked up through bloodshot eyes, pointed to a nearby calf, and croaked,
“Doesn’t that thing have a mother?”