"I know you can't take it with you," he
says, "But who knows? Suppose they're
mistaken. I'd like to have something with
me, just in case. So I am giving each of
you an envelope containing one hundred
thousand dollars and I would be grateful
if at my funeral you would put the
envelopes in my coffin, so that if it
turns out that it's useful, I'll have
something." They each agree to carry out
his wish.
Sure enough, after just a few weeks, the
old man passes away. At his funeral, each
of the three advisors is seen slipping
something into the coffin. After the
burial, as the three are walking away
together, the doctor turns to the other
two and says, "Friends, I have a
confession to make. As you know, at the
hospital we are desperate because of the
cutbacks in funding. Our MRI machine broke
down and we haven't be able to get a new
one. So, I took $25,000 of our friend's
money for a new MRI and put the rest in
the coffin as he asked."
At this the priest says, "I, too have a
confession to make. As you know, our
church is simply overwhelmed by the
problem of the homeless. The needs keep
increasing and we have nowhere to turn. So
I took $50,000 from the envelope for our
homeless fund and put the rest in the
coffin as out friend requested."
Fixing the other two in his gaze, the
lawyer says, "I am astonished and deeply
disappointed that you would treat so
casually our solemn undertaking to our
friend. I want you to know that I placed
in his coffin my personal check for the
full one hundred thousand dollars."@