That’s Life

My reminiscence of my grandfather was a confined one since he passed away when I was very young.The one thing I could remember of him,who was a great story teller,was this story which he used to tell us.Though I wasn’t fond of this story in my younger days,the meaning of it became more and more relevant to me as years passed on.
It goes like this-
God created the donkey
and said to him.
“You will be a donkey. You will work un-tiringly from sunrise to sunset
carrying burdens on your back. You will eat grass,
you will have no intelligence and you will live 50 years.”
The donkey answered:
“I will be a donkey, but to live 50 years is much. Give me only 25 years”
God granted his wish.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God created the dog
And said to him:
“You will guard the house of man. You will be his best Friend.
You will eat the scraps that he gives you and you will live 30 years.
You will be a dog. ”
The dog answered:
“Sir, to live 30 years is too much,give me only 15 years.
” God granted his wish.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God created the monkey
and said to him:
“You will be a monkey. You will swing from branch to branch doing tricks.
You will be amusing and you will live
20 years. ” The monkey answered:
“To live 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years.”
God granted his wish.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally God created man
…
And said to him:
“You will be man, the only rational creature on the face of the earth.
You will use your intelligence to become master over all the animals.
You will dominate the world and you will live 25 years.”
Man responded:
“Sir, I will be a man but to live only
25 years is very little,
give me the 25 years that the donkey refused,
the 15 years that the dog did not want and
the 10 years the monkey refused.
” God granted man’s wish
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And since then, man lives
25 years as a man ,
Then gets married and lives 25 years like a donkey,shouldering all burdens of his family,
Then when his children are grown,
he lives 15 years like a dog taking care of the house and eating whatever is given to him,
so that when he is old,
he can retire and live 10 years like a monkey,
going from house to house and from one son or
daughter to another doing tricks to amuse his grandchildren.
………………And isn’t it true that the life cycle of a common human being is so????