The kindergarten teacher is walking the children through the park.
On the grass, a hedgehog is crawling.
Teacher:
— Children, who is this?
The children don’t know.
Teacher:
— Come on, children, remember — about whom are there so many songs, poems, and fairy tales?
Little Vova walks up to the hedgehog and whispers in awe:
— So this is what you look like, Grandpa Lenin!
Commentary
This joke plays on Soviet propaganda. Children were constantly told about Lenin through songs, poems, and stories, so when the teacher hints at “the hero of all our literature,” Little Vova innocently mistakes a hedgehog for Lenin himself. The humor comes from the absurdity of indoctrination colliding with a child’s literal imagination.
Russian Original
Воспитательница ведет детей по парку. По траве ползет ежик.
Воспитательница:
— Дети, кто это такой?
Дети не знают. Воспитательница:
— Ну же, дети, вспомните о ком так много песен сложено, о ком мы читаем стихи и сказки?!
Вовочка подходит к ежику, и восхищенно шепчет:
— Так вот ты какой, дедушка Ленин!
Transliteration
Vospitatelnitsa vedet detey po parku.
Po trave polzet ezhik.
Vospitatelnitsa:
— Deti, kto eto takoy?
Deti ne znayut.
Vospitatelnitsa:
— Nu zhe, deti, vspomnite o kom tak mnogo pesen slozheno, o kom my chitaem stikhi i skazki?!
Vovochka podkhodit k ezhiku i voskhishchenno shepchet:
— Tak vot ty kakoy, dedushka Lenin!