A Variation On An OldJoke

[osewalrus]

So I once again heard the old joke about explaining the Talmud with the question of "two men come down the chimney, one is dirty and the other clean, which one takes a bath?" I figured I would render it as it might actually appear if this were real.
 

Mishna: If two men come down a chimney, and one is clean, who should wash? Rabbi Eliezer says, the clean one. As it is said "oy le rasha oy l'schano (ill will befall the evil doer and his neighbor). Rabbi Akiva says, the dirty one, as it is said tov la tzadik tov l'schano (good will befall the righteous and his neighbor). It happed on one occasion that two chimney sweeps came to the house of Rebbi Yehuda and both were clean. He exclaimed "He who watches the wind will not sow!" (Eccl. 11:4)

Talmud: Hachi Maschis lei? (Where do we find such a case, i.e., where one is clean and one is dirty). Rabba says: Where one obeys OSHA regulations and one does not. Abeye says, when the chimney is first built. Why would two men come down the chimney? Rabba says: they are chimney sweeps, and the union contract requires two. Abeye says: One is an engineer and another is a county inspector.

Abeye was asked: If the chimney was just built, why would the engineer be dirty coming down the chimney? Abeye answered: You ever eat with one? 

"It happened on occasion" Does this not prove Rabba? (Because it specifies the two men were chimney sweeps). This is no proof. As they did not yet sow, they could not yet harvest. 

Rashi: Because they had not yet begun to work (i.e., 'sow'), they had not yet both become dirty (i.e., the 'harvest' of their labor cleaning the chimney.)

Artscroll note: The verse reads in its entirety "He who watches the wind will not sow, he who looks at the clouds will not harvest."