A very wealthy man, old and desperately
ill, summons to his bedside his three closest advisors: his doctor, his priest, and his
lawyer. "I know," he says, "They say 'you can't take it with
you.' But who knows? Suppose they're mistaken. I'd like to have
something with me, just in case. So I am giving each of you an envelope containing
one hundred thousand dollars and I would be grateful if, at my funeral, you would put the
envelopes in my coffin, so that if it turns out that it's useful, I'll have
something."
They each agree to carry out his wish.
Sure enough, after just a few weeks, the
old man passes away. At his funeral, each of the three advisors is seen slipping
something into the coffin. After the burial, as the three are walking away together,
the doctor turns to the other two and says, "Friends, I have a confession to
make. As you know, at the hospital we are desperate because of the cutbacks in
funding. Our CAT scan broke down and we haven't be able to get a new one. So,
I took $20,000 of our friend's money for a new CAT scan and put the rest in the coffin as
he asked."
At this the priest says, "I, too
have a confession to make. As you know, our church is simply overwhelmed by the
problem of the homeless. The needs keep increasing and we have nowhere to
turn. So I took $50,000 from the envelope for our homeless fund and put the rest in
the coffin as out friend requested."
Fixing the other two in his gaze, the
lawyer says, "I am astonished and deeply disappointed that you would treat so
casually our solemn undertaking to our friend. I want you to know that I placed in
his coffin my personal check for the full one hundred thousand dollars."
