A boy comes back from school

A boy arrived home from school looking miserable: he had scored zero on his geography exam. When his mother asked what had happened, he explained that he hadn’t known the answer to one question. “What was the question?” she asked. “Where’s Portugal?” That was enough to set her off. “That idiot teacher! I’m calling the principal’s office,” she declared. First, though, she decided they would settle the matter themselves by finding Portugal on a map.

She unfolded a map of their state and searched without success. Next came a regional map, which offered no help either. Finally, she studied a map of their own city. Still nothing. Yet rather than reconsider her approach, she became even more certain that the answer was practically around the corner. “I swear Portugal can’t be far,” she told her son. “The maid is from Portugal, and she comes here to work every day on her bicycle.”