Clever Turtles

I ran across this joke in PASSIONS OF THE CUT SLEEVE, by Bret Hinsch, who took it from Howard Levy's CHINESE SEX JOKES IN TRADITIONAL TIMES.

A Taoist gentleman did the bedroom thing, taking off his clothes, folding his hands, and proclaiming, "It's not I like sex, but I do it to continue my ancestral line."

Having done it once, he said, "Yes, it's not that I like it but I do it to increase the population for the Imperial Court." And he did it again. Further he said, "It's not that I like sex, I'm doing it for the expansion and nourishment of Heaven and Earth." And he did it a third time.

"What will he say the fourth time?" asked an onlooker.

"He's only good for three times, what else can he say?" answered someone who knew him.