On the first day, God created the dog and said: ‘Sit all day by the door and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.’ The dog said: ‘That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?’ So God agreed.
On the second day, God created the monkey and said: ‘Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a twenty-year life span.’ The monkey said: ‘Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?’ And God agreed.
On the third day, God created the cow and said: ‘You must go into the field with the farmer all day long , have calves and give milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.’ The cow said: ‘That’s kind of a tough life to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?’ And God agreed again.
On the fourth day, God created man and said: ‘Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years.’ But man said: ‘Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?’ ‘Okay,’ said God, ‘You got it.’
So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family living cow’s life . For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.
Now you know why We live the life the way We live.
This could teach people the way to live their lives. At first I thought it was nonsense, but the ending really got to me. That’s a nice and thought provoking story.
You notice the “man” sits on the porch for the last ten years and barks? I do realize “man” is a generic term here, but this part does strike me as more male oriented.