I heard this joke today from Penn Gillette (of Penn & Teller fame) during his radio show were they were discussing the perfect way to craft a joke. He used this as an example of one of the earliest jokes he'd ever heard, and how he assumed it was funny because it was an absurdist thing, like "How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Fish." Only a long time later did he finally get the real punch line. And only eventually did I, too, get the real punch line -- down as in feather down, like pillows. Which comes from ducks. You don't get down from elephants, you get down from ducks. This led to a discussion of whether it is a kneejerk reaction to hit the deck when somebody yells "Duck!" which conjured up a third meaning to the joke, that you get down (as in, on the ground) after somebody yells "Duck", not after somebody yells "Elephant".

Anyway. I told this joke to Katherine today. Here is how it went.

"Hey Katherine, how do you get down from an elephant?"

"With a ladder!"

"No, you don't get down from an elephant. You get down from a duck!"

"Ducks are too small, daddy, you can't get down from ducks. To get down from an elephant you get onto another elephant and then another elephant and then another elephant, and then you're down."