A light-hearted fable
Recently I was reminded of this fable, in conversation with a friend of mine since my high school days. (Isn’t it nice when friendships go back that far?) It’s available on the internet in many variations, and I don’t know where it originated; certainly I’ve come across it many times over the years. Anyway, here’s my version of it.
And I’ll also take this opportunity to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. (A wise friend pointed out to me that the things that make for health and happiness are much more nuanced than they used to be.) May 2022 give you all that you hope for. Thanks for staying with my website – it’s very fulfilling for me.
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God created Dog, and said: “Sit all day by the door of your house, and bark at anyone who walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.”
Dog said: “That’s a long time to be barking. May I do it for ten years, and give you back the other ten?”
And God agreed.
Then God created Monkey, and said: “Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.”
Monkey said: “That’s a long time to be doing monkey tricks. May I do it for ten years, and give you back the other ten, as Dog did?”
And God agreed.
Then God created Cow, and said: “Go into the field with the farmer all day long, and suffer under the sun, have calves, and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.”
Cow said: “That’s a long time for such a tough life. May I do it for twenty years, and give you back the other forty?”
And God agreed.
Then God created Man, and said: “Eat sleep, play, marry, enjoy your life. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.”
Man said: “Only twenty years? Could you give me my twenty, and also the forty that Cow gave back, the ten that Monkey gave back, and the ten that Dog gave back?”
And God agreed.
And that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves; for our next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family; for the next ten years we do monkey tricks to amuse our grandchildren; and for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
That is the meaning of life.
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4 Comments
I have written about retirement planning before and some of that material also relates to topics or issues that are being discussed here. Where relevant I draw on material from three sources: The Retirement Plan Solution (co-authored with Bob Collie and Matt Smith, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009), my foreword to Someday Rich (by Timothy Noonan and Matt Smith, also published by Wiley, 2012), and my occasional column The Art of Investment in the FT Money supplement of The Financial Times, published in the UK. I am grateful to the other authors and to The Financial Times for permission to use the material here.
Love it! Brilliant. Stay safe Don and keep out of trouble!
Thanks, David. Best to you too – Don
This truly made me laugh out loud. I had not heard that fable before. Thank you for sharing, Don. I wish you and your family much happiness in this holiday season and all the best for 2022! I look forward to more posts! Cindy
So glad you liked it, Cindy! Best to you and your loved ones too – Don