The Years of a Man's Life

When God was creating the world, he was also creating animals and allocating their lot in life as well as their lifespans.

God told the cow, "You will work all day and slog for your master. You will live 50 years."

"What?" asked the cow incredulously. "Such a thankless job and you want me to do it for 50 years? Give me 20 years, and you can take back 30 years."

So God agreed and took back 30 years.

Next came the monkey. God told the monkey, "You will make monkey faces to make people laugh. You will live 30 years."

"What?" asked the monkey incredulously. "Such a thankless job and you want me to do it for 30 years? Give me 20 years, and you can take back 10 years."

So God agreed and took back 10 years.

Next came the dog. God told the dog, "You will sit at the door of your master's house and bark at whoever comes into the house. You will live 20 years."

"What?" asked the dog incredulously. "Such a thankless job and you want me to do it for 20 years? Give me 10 years, and you can take back 10 years."

So God agreed and took back 10 years.

Finally, it was the man's turn. God told the man, "You will eat, sleep, drink and enjoy life. That is all you need to do. You will live 20 years."

"What?" asked the man incredulously. "Such a wonderful job and you want me to do it for only 20 years? Tell you what: Give me the 50 years that the cow, monkey and dog returned to you and give it to me. Then I will live 70 years."

So God agreed and gave him 50 more years.

This explains why for the first 20 years of a man's life, he eat, sleeps, drinks and enjoys life, works all day and slogs for his boss for the next 30, makes monkey faces at his grandchildren to make them laugh for the next 10, and for the last 10 years of his life, sits at the door and barks and the people who come in.