CHURAK'S PALACE

[Churak]

A sailor was caught AWOL as he tried to sneak on board his ship at
about 3 am. The chief petty officer spied him and ordered the sailor
to stop. Upon hearing the sailor's lame explanation for his tardiness,
the officer ordered the sailor, "Take this broom and sweep every link
on this anchor chain by morning or it's the brig for you!
The sailor began to pick up the broom and commence performing his
charge. As he began to sweep, a tern landed on the broom handle. The
sailor yelled at the bird to leave, but it didn't. The lad picked the
tern off the broom handle, giving the bird a toss. The bird left, only
to return and light once again on the broom handle. The sailor went
through the same routine all over again, with the same result. He
couldn't get any cleaning done because he can only sweep at the chain
once or twice before the blasted bird returns. When morning came, so
did the chief petty officer, to check up on his wayward sailor.
"What in the heck have you been doing all night? This chain is no
cleaner than when you started! What have you to say for yourself,
sailor?" barked the chief.
"Honest, chief," came the reply, "I tossed a tern all night and
couldn't sweep a link!"