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| There was a band of musicians that was desperate for money because they had no place to play. One day a producer saw them playing on the street and offered them a deal that would set them up for the rest of their lives. He told them to come to his office the next day to sign the contract. "But," he said, "you each have to cut off your ears. All four of you." So that night they went home separately, and three of them cut off their ears. The next day they met at the fountain, and when the three saw that the fourth hadn't cut off his ears, they were very angry. "Why didn't you cut off your ears like the rest of us?" they demanded. "You're going to cost us the deal." "No, I won't," the fourth responded. "Can't you see he was kidding? He didn't really expect us to do it." "He wasn't kidding. Now cut off your ears, or we'll do it for you." The fourth shook his head and started to walk away. The others jumped him, held him down and slit his throat. Then they cut off his ears and put them in a pouch. But now there were only three of them, and the producer was expecting four! So they went off frantically looking for a musician even more desperate than themselves. Finally they found a scraggly drummer who agreed to cut off his ears and join the band. They did the job and walked over to the producer's office. He looked at them in horror and slowly tore up the contract. "I can't use you now," he said. "You've mutilated yourselves. Can't you tell when a man is making a joke?" |
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