God created the dog and said, “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a lifespan of 20 years.”
The dog replied, “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only 10 years and I’ll give you back the other 10?”
God agreed.
Then God created the monkey and said, “Do tricks and make people laugh. For this, I’ll give you a 20-year lifespan.”
The monkey said, “Tricks for 20 years? How about I give you back 10 like the dog did?”
God agreed.
Thereafter, God created the cow and said, “You must go into the field with the farmer every day. Have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a lifespan of 60 years.”
The cow said, “That’s kind of a tough life for 60 years. How about 20 and I’ll give back the other 40?”
God agreed again.
Then God created man and said, “Eat, sleep, play, marry, and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you 20 years.”
But man said, “Only 20 years. Could you possibly give me my 20, the 40 the cow gave back, the 10 the monkey gave back, and the 10 the dog gave back?”
“Okay,” said God.
So that is why for our first 20 years, we eat, sleep, play, and enjoy ourselves.For the next 40 years, we slave in the sun to support our family.For the next 10 years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.And for the last 10 years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
