This joke is pretty long, but good.
A very long time ago, the Lord created the first animal, which was a cow. He then told the cow what kind of life she would have to live and for how long. "You will slave away in a hot, dry field all day long. I give you a lifespan of forty years." The cow said, "That's a pretty hard life to live for forty years. How about I give you back thirty years and keep ten for myself?"
"Very well." said the Lord, and after reducing the cow's lifespan to only ten years he sent her to Earth. The next animal he created was a monkey. He told the monkey" You will be spending your life performing silly tricks to entertain people around you. I give you a lifespan of forty years". The monkey said, "I have to spend forty years doing nothing but entertaining a bunch of people with silly tricks? How about I give you back twenty years and keep the other half for myself?"
"Alright then." said the Lord, and afterwards he sent the monkey to Earth. The next animal he created was a dog.
"You will spend your life sitting on a porch, growling, snapping and barking at anyone who walks by. I give you a lifespan of twenty-five years." He told the Dog. But sure enough, the dog said "I really don't want to live that long if that's all I get to do. I'll keep fifteen years and give you back ten."
The Lord was getting just a bit annoyed that none of these creatures wanted the years of life he had so generously given them, but he took off the ten years and sent the dog to Earth.
Finally, the last animal the Lord created was a human. He told the human, "You will run around happily, and play, and just enjoy your life to the fullest. I give you a lifespan of twenty years."
"I get to have a great life like that for only twenty years?" the human cried. "That's so unfair."
"I'll tell you what." the Lord said. "The other animals didn't want the extra years I offered them so I'll just give them to you. Then you will have a long life of 80 years."
The human thought that was a very good deal, so the lord gave him the extra years and sent him down to Earth.
And that is why, to this very day, that humans spend the first twenty years of their life running around happily, playing and enjoying life to the fullest, Then they spend the next thirty years slaving away in a hot dry field all day long, then the next twenty years they perform silly little tricks to entertain people, and finally they spend the last ten years of their life sitting on the porch, growling, snapping and barking at whoever walks by! ![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)