“Sit by the door of your house all day and bark at anyone who comes by. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years.”
The dog replied, “That’s a long time to be barking. How about I keep ten years, and give the other ten back to you?”
And God saw it was good.
On the second day, God created the monkey and said,
“Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I’ll give you a life span of twenty years.”
The monkey replied, “Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s too long. How about I give you back ten years like the dog did?”
And God saw it was good.
On the third day, God created the cow and said,
“You will work hard in the fields all day, endure the sun, have calves, and give milk to feed the farmer’s family. For this, I’ll give you a life span of sixty years.”
The cow replied, “That’s too much for such a hard life. How about I live twenty years and give the other forty back?”
And God agreed it was good.
On the fourth day, God created humans and said,
“Eat, sleep, play, marry, and enjoy your life. For this, I’ll give you twenty years.”
But the human said, “Only twenty years? That’s not enough! Could I have my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back? That makes eighty, right?”
God smiled and said, “Okay, you asked for it.”
And that’s why:
For the first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play, and enjoy life.
For the next forty years, we work hard under the sun to support our families.
For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren.
And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone who passes by.