A dying man gathered his Lawyer, Doctor and Clergyman at his bed
side and handed each of them an envelope containing $25,000 in cash.
He made them each promise that after his death and during his repose,
they would place the three envelopes in his coffin. He told them that
he wanted to have enough money to enjoy the next life.
A week later the man died. At the Wake, the Lawyer and Doctor and
Clergyman, each concealed an envelope in the coffin and bid their old
client and friend farewell. By chance, these three met several months
later. Soon the Clergyman, feeling guilty, blurted out a confession
saying that there was only $10,000 in the envelope he placed in the
coffin. He felt, rather than waste all the money, he would send it
to a Mission in South America. He asked for their forgiveness. The
Doctor, moved by the gentle Clergymans sincerity, confessed that he
too had kept some of the money for a worthy medical charity. The
envelope, he admitted, had only $8000 in it. He said, he too could
not bring himself to waste the money so frivolously when it could be
used to benefit others.
By this time the Lawyer was seething with self-righteous outrage.
He expressed his deep disappointment in the felonious behavior of two
of his oldest and most trusted friends. "I am the only one who kept
his promise to our dying friend. I want you both to know that the
envelope I placed in the coffin contained the full amount. Indeed,
my envelope contained my personal check for the entire $25,000." |
