The Story of Life: A Divine Bargain

On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit by the door of your house all day and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a lifespan of twenty years."

The dog replied, "That’s a long time to be barking. How about I take just ten years and give the other ten back?"

God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I will give you a lifespan of twenty years."

The monkey protested, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a long time to perform. How about I give you back ten years, like the dog did?"

God agreed once more.

On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day, endure the sun, bear calves, and provide milk to support the farmer’s family. For this, I will give you a lifespan of sixty years."

The cow objected, "That’s a tough life for sixty years. How about I keep twenty and return the other forty?"

God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry, and enjoy your life. For this, I will give you a lifespan of twenty years."

But the human responded, "Only twenty years? That doesn’t seem like enough. Could you possibly give me my twenty, plus the forty the cow returned, the ten from the monkey, and the ten from the dog? That would make it eighty years."

"Alright," said God. "You asked for it."

And so it was that for the first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play, and enjoy ourselves.

For the next forty years, we work hard in the sun to support our families.

For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain our grandchildren.

And for the final ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone who passes by.

And that, my friends, is the story of life.