Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2024 February 8

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February 8

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Colors film '88/Great Santini '76 parable about the two bulls going down the hill

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Famous parable about youth vs. experience about the old bull telling the young bull why run down the hill and not get any of the cows rather walk down the hill and get all of them. Heard this also mentioned in the Sopranos and other tv and films since but does it have a reference prior to the Great Santini in '76? Aesop, eastern philosophy, religious texts, enlightenment I would imagine would be the source of this, did the Great Santini author update an old wisdom? Thanks in advance for any and all input!2600:1702:690:F7A0:388C:B3C7:61FB:A22B (talk) 04:12, 8 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I found a Google Books "snippet" with the joke in The Differences Between Male and Female Joke Telling as Exemplified in a College Community, Volume 2 (1976) which suggests that the joke was already current in 1976.
This undated Quora thread on the joke has a post saying "I know this joke is more than 65 years old". That's all Google could find me. Alansplodge (talk) 16:37, 8 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
In the interests of comedic accuracy, the IP has mis-stated the joke slightly: the young bull says "Let's run down the hill and cover some of the cows . . . ." [Substitute "cover" according to sensibilities.] {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.199.107.217 (talk) 05:53, 9 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]