A modern day parable

Murphman · February 6, 2006

A young man named Gordon bought a donkey from an old farmer for £100.00.

The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. When the farmer drove up the next day, he said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news...the donkey is on my truck, but he's dead."

Gordon replied, "Well then, just give me my money back." The farmer said, "I Can't do that. I went and spent it already." Gordon said, "OK then, just unload the donkey anyway". The farmer asked, "What are ya gonna do with him?" Gordon said, "I'm going to raffle him off." To which the farmer exclaimed, "You can't raffle off a dead donkey!" But Gordon , with a big smile on his face, said "Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody that he's dead."

A month later the farmer met up with Gordon and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?" Gordon said, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two pounds a piece and made a profit of £698.00." Totally amazed, the farmer asked, "Didn't anyone complain that you had stolen their money because you lied about the donkey being dead?" And Gordon replied, "The only guy who found out about the donkey being dead was the raffle winner, when he came to claim his prize. So I gave him his £2 back plus £200 extra, which is double the going value of a donkey, so he thought I was a great guy."

Gordon grew up and eventually became the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and no matter how many times he lied or how much money he stole from British voters, as long as he gave them back some of the stolen money, most of them thought he was a great guy.

cymrococh · February 6, 2006

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