A PIED PIPER VARIATION

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A man was looking around a small gift shop when he came across an amazingly
ugly statue of a rat. As he was staring at this statue, the shopkeeper came up
to him and began to speak.
"Sir, I couldn't help but notice your interest in the statue. It's only five
dollars, sir, but the story behind it will cost you fifty." The man turned back
around and looked in shock.
"Let me get this straight. If I buy the statue and the story behind it, I'll
be paying fifty-five dollars. But if I can bear to live without the story, I'll
only pay five?"
The Shopkeeper grinned and nodded. Not believing what a bargain he'd got, the
man quickly paid and walked out of the store. A few moments later, he noticed
that a lone rat was following him. He shrugged, and ignored the rodent, hoping
it would leave. When he looked back again, some five minutes later, he saw that
the number of rodents had grown to maybe fifty rats. A little nervous, he turned
back to his path and continued walking.
When he looked around the third time, he saw thousands of rats following him.
Horribly frightened, the man rushed to a dock overlooking the ocean and threw
the statue as far out to sea as he possibly could. The rats followed the statue,
sinking into the waves like stones.
The man then rushed back to the shop, elated, panicked, and still in shock.
When he burst through the door, the shopkeeper gave a little chuckle. He had a
smug grin on his face as he said,
"I expect you've come back to buy the story." The shopkeeper held out his hand
for the fifty dollars. The customer looked confused for a second, then said.
"Hell no! I want to know if you've got a statue of a lawyer!"




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