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∂CSL %2New York Review%1↓250 West 57th Street↓New York, NY 10107∞

To the Editor:

	John Fairbanks cites the following joke from %2One Billion: A China
Chronicle%1 by Jay and Linda Matthews as an example of Chinese humor.
"I'm in prison because I supported Deng Hsiaoping.  I'm in prison
because I opposed Deng Hsiaoping.  I am Deng Hsiaoping."
The joke is old and at least by the fifties it was cited with some
appropriate Russian instead of Deng.  It would be interesting to
know how old the joke really is and from what published source the
Chinese humorist might have acquired it.

.sgn