Pied Piper
A tourist wanders into a back-alley antique shop in San Francisco's
Chinatown. Picking through the objects on display he discovers a
detailed, life-sized bronze sculpture of a rat. The sculpture is so
interesting and unique that he picks it up and asks the shop owner what
it costs.
"Twelve dollars for the rat, sir," says the shop owner, "and a
thousand dollars more for the story behind it."
"You can keep the story, old man," he replies, "but I'll
take the rat."
The transaction complete, the tourist leaves the store with
the bronze rat under his arm. As he crosses the street in
front of the store, two live rats emerge from a sewer drain
and fall into step behind him.
Nervously looking over his shoulder, he begins to walk faster,
but every time he passes another sewer drain, more rats come
out and follow him.
By the time he's walked two blocks, at least a hundred rats
are at his heels, and people begin to point and shout.
He walks even faster, and soon breaks into a trot as multitudes
of rats swarm from sewers, basements, vacant lots, and abandoned
cars. Rats by the thousands are at his heels, and as he sees the
waterfront at the bottom of the hill, he panics and starts to
run full tilt.
No matter how fast he runs, the rats keep up, squealing
hideously, now not just thousands but millions, so that
by the time he comes rushing up to the water's edge a
trail of rats twelve city blocks long is behind him.
Making a mighty leap, he jumps up onto a light post, grasping
it with one arm while he hurls the bronze rat into San Francisco
Bay with the other, as far as he can heave it. Pulling his legs
up and clinging to the light post, he watches in amazement as
the seething tide of vermin surges over the breakwater into the
sea, where they drown.
Shaken and mumbling, he makes his way back to the antique
shop. "Ah, you've come back for the rest of the story,"
says the owner.
"No," says the tourist, "I was wondering if you have a bronze
sculpture of a POLITISHION?"
[ Author Unknown -- from 'Aiken Drum' (Aiken@AikensLaughs.com) ]
Inspirational Humor
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