The Abbot at Nortre Dame Cathedral needed a new bellringer as the old hunchback had recently passed away. He put an announcement on the entrance doors. Several days went by with no reply. One morning a small man with no arms appeared at the Abbot's office door.
"What do you want?" the Abbot asked.
"I'm here to apply for the bellringer's job," the man with no arms replied.
"But you have no arms. How do you propose to ring the bell with no arms?"
"Just give me a chance, Your Reverence" the man with no arms replied.
"OK. You deserve a chance" the Abbot replied. "We'll go up to the belltower and you can show me what you will do."
They proceeded slowly up the stairs to the belltower. The Abbot told the man with no arms to demonstrate his skills. The man with no arms looked at the bell, walked as far away from it as he could, lowered his head, and rushed toward the bell. When he crashed into it with his head, a loud BONG! could be heard throughout Paris.
"Pretty good, pretty good" enthused the Abbot. "But what will you do when you have to ring the bell many times? I'm willing to bet that you cannot ring the bell that way 12 times in a row?"
It was now almost 11 o"clock.
"I'll prove it to you, Your Reverence," the man with no arms said confidently. "Just watch me."
At that, the man with no arms moved once again to his position opposite the bell. At 11 o'clock, he lowered his head as before and rushed the bell. BONG! went the bell. Than back to his position and another rush. BONG! again went the bell. And again, BONG! and BONG! For ten times the man with no arms rushed the bell and rang it loudly by banging his head against it. But alas! On the eleventh and final approach, the starting time of the man with no arms was a little off. The bell had started its arch sooner than the man with no arms expected, and when he arrived, the bell was extended away from him and he missed it, rushing by it and over the rail and then falling from the tower to the courtyard below.
The Abbot was abashed. He rushed down the stairs and out the door to the courtyard. A crowd had gathered around the crumpled body of the man with no arms. The Abbot made his way through the assemblage and stood there gazing upon the lifeless body of the man with no arms.
"What happened? What happened? Who is it? Who is it?" Everyone in the crowd of people were anxious to know.
The Abbot scratched his chin and looked at the body and then the crowd. Finally, he replied, "Well, I don't know who he his but his face sure rings a bell."
The next day, as the Abbot sat in his office thinking about the event of the day before, he heard a knock at the door. He opened it. There stood anothe man with no arms.
"Who are you?" the Abbot asked.
"I'm the brother of the man who came to you yesterday looking for a job."
The Abbot feared that he was about to be charged with some sort of crime. He started to remonstrate. But the second man with no arms interrupted him.
"I need a job myself," he said. I am here to try out for the job of bellringer."
"No", replied the Abbot. "I can't go through that again."
But the second man with no arms was persistent.
"You can't discriminate" he told the Abbot. You have to give me a chance just like you do for everyone else applying for the job."
"OK", replied the Abbot. "You do deserve a chance."
As before, the Abbot and the second man with no arms climbed the stairs to the belltower.
"How are you going to ring the bell?", the Abbot inquired.
"Just watch me", the second man with no arms replied. And, like his brother before him, he took a position as far away from the bell as he could, lowered his head, rushed toward the bell and hit it hard with his head. BONG! went the bell.
"But can you ring it 12 times?", asked the Abbot.
It was almost 11 o'clock. "Watch me", said the second man with no arms.
Again, he took his position and rushed toward the bell. BONG! went the bell. Then again, BONG! And again, BONG! This for ten times.
But on the eleventh attempt, again like his brother before him, the second man with no arms did not time his approach correctly. The bell was overextended on its arch. The second man with no arms missed it, fell over the protective railing, and to his death below.
The Abbot rushed down the stairs and out into the courtyard. Again a crowd had gathered around the crumpled body of the second man with no arms.
"What happened? What happened? Who is he? Who is he?" The crowd was anxious to know what had happened. The Abbot looked at the crumpled mass at his feet. He scratched his chin and looked at the crowd and finally replied: "Well, I don't know his name but he sure is a dead ringer for his brother." |
