The lawyer & the dead man

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A dying man gathered his best friends - a lawyer, doctor and clergyman - at
his bedside and handed each of them an envelope containing $25,000 in cash. He
made them each promise that after his death and during his repose, they would
place the three envelops in his coffin. He told them that he wanted to have
enough money to enjoy the next life.

A week later the man died. At the wake, the lawyer and doctor and clergyman
each concealed an envelope in the coffin and bid their old client and friend
farewell.

By chance, these three met several months later. Soon the clergyman, feeling
guilty, blurted out a confession saying that there was only $10,000 in the
envelope he placed in the coffin. He felt, rather than waste all the money, he
would send it to a mission in South America. He asked for their forgiveness.

The doctor, moved by the gentle Clergyman's sincerity, confessed that he too
had kept some of the money for a worthy medical charity. The envelope, he
admitted, had only $8000 in it. He said he too could not bring himself to waste
the money so frivolously when it could be used to benefit others.

By this time the Lawyer was seething with self-righteous outrage. He expressed
his deep disappointment in the felonious behavior of two of his oldest and most
trusted friends. "I am the only one who kept my promise to our dying friend. I
want you both to know that the envelope I placed in the coffin contained the
full amount.

The other men looked down in embarrassment and the lawyer continued, "Indeed,
only I honored the deathbed wishes of our great friend. My envelope contained my
personal check for the entire $25,000."




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