An oldie but a goodie...
A couple of centuries ago in Italy the church needed a bell ringer and the word was spread far and wide. One day the bell at the entrance rang and the priest answered to find a man standing at the door with no arms. The priest asked if he could be of assistance. The man said he was there to apply for the bell ringer’s job.
Somewhat taken back, the priest said, “my son, I do not mean to offend, but how would you ring the bell with no arms?” The young man replied, “Father, I was able to pull the rope to ring the doorbell.”
The priest thought for a moment and being impressed said that he would consider hiring him but that first he wanted to give him a trial at ringing the bell, so up to the tower they went.
Once in the tower the young man backed up a bit and ran forward hitting the bell with his head and the bell rang. He backed up and hit it again with his head but this time he glanced off the bell, fell to his side and out the tower window to the road below.
Aghast, the priest ran down the stairs to where the young man fell. When he finally got there a small crowd began to gather. The priest asked the people there if anyone knew the young man to which one person replied, “I don’t know, father, but his face rings a bell.”
Several days later the doorbell to the church rang and the same priest answered the door. This time he was met with a strapping young man. The priest asked him if he could be of assistance. The young man stated he was there to apply for the bell ringer’s job. The priest said they were putting off hiring someone for a while because of the horrible accident that had occurred a few days prior.
The young man said he was aware of what happened, that the man that was killed was his brother and he was there to honor him.
Deeply moved, the priest said he would hire him and led him up to the bell tower. The young man asked if could ring the bell. With the priests approval he grabbed the rope and began ringing the bell. On the third pull he stumbled, his hands came free. and the young man fell out a tower window to the road below.
Horrified, the priest sprinted down the stairs to the body and the gathering crowd below where someone asked the priest who the dead youth was. The priest replied, “I don’t know, but he’s a dead ringer for his brother.”
jOHN