The Gift of Life

　　On the very first day, God created the cow. He said to the cow, “Today I have created you! As a cow, you must go to the field with the farmer all day long. You will work all day under the sun! I will give you a life span of 50 years.”

　　The cow objected, “What? This kind of a tough life you want me to live for 50 years? Let me have 20 years, and the 30 years I’ll give back to you.” So God agreed.

　　On the second day, God created the dog. God said to the dog, “What you are supposed to do is to sit all day by the door of your house. Any people that come in, you will have to bark at them! I’ll give you a life span of 20 years.”

　　The dog objected, “What? All day long to sit by the door? No way! I’ll give you back my other 10 years of life!” So God agreed.

　　On the third day, God created the monkey. He said to the monkey, “Monkeys have to entertain people. You’ve got to make them laugh and do monkey tricks. I’ll give you 20 years life span.”

　　The monkey objected. “What? Make them laugh? Do monkey faces and tricks? Ten years will do, and the other 10 years I’ll give you back.” So God agreed.

　　On the fourth day, God created man and said to him, “Your job is to sleep, eat, and play. You will enjoy very much in your life. All you need to do is to enjoy and do nothing. This kind of life, I’ll give you a 20 year life span.”

　　The man objected. “What? Such a good life! Eat, play, sleep, do nothing? Enjoy the best and you expect me to live only for 20 years? No way, man! Why don’t we make a deal? Since the cow gave you back 30 years, and the dog gave you back 10 years and the monkey gave you back 10 years, I will take them from you! That makes my life span 70 years, right?” So God agreed.

　　AND THAT’S WHY...

　　In our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, enjoy the best and do nothing much. For the next 30 years, we work all day long, suffer and get to support the family. For the next 10 years, we entertain our grandchildren by making monkey faces and monkey tricks. And for the last 10 years, we stay at home, sit by the front door and bark at people!

　　第一天，上帝創造了牛。上帝對牛說：“今天，我創造了你。作為牛，你必須跟農夫下田，整天在日頭下干活。我給你50年的生命。”

　　牛反對說：“這樣的苦日子，你要我忍上50年？我只要20年，另外30年你收回吧。”上帝答應了。

　　第二天，上帝創造了狗。上帝對狗說：“你要整天坐在自家門口，有人進來就叫。我給你20年的生命。”

　　狗不樂意了，說：“什么？整天坐在門口？絕對不行！我只要10年就夠了，其余的10年還給你吧。”上帝答應了。

　　第三天，上帝創造了猴子。上帝對猴子說：“你必須耍猴把戲，逗人開心，讓他們捧腹大笑。我給你20年的生命。”

　　猴子可不干，說：“什么？逗人發笑？還要扮鬼臉，耍把戲？10年就行了，剩下的10年你留著吧。”上帝答應了。

　　第四天，上帝創造了人。上帝對人說：“你只要吃喝玩樂，休息睡覺，舒舒服服地過日子就行了。別的什么都不用做，只管盡情享受。我給你20年的生命。”

　　人有意見了，說：“什么？吃喝玩樂，休息睡覺，安逸享受？這樣的好日子，才讓我活20年？啊呀，不行！你看這樣好不好？牛還給你30年，狗還了10年，猴子也還了10年，就把它們還的時間全給我吧。這樣，我就能活上70年了，對吧？”上帝答應了。

　　這下，你明白了吧……

　　最初的20年，我們吃喝玩樂，休息睡覺，安逸享受。隨后的30年，我們整天工作個不停，辛辛苦苦地養家糊口。接下來的10年，我們扮鬼臉，耍把戲，逗孫子孫女們開心。最后的10年，我們終日呆在家里，坐在門口，不住地對別人嘮叨。