A Jewish man complained to his Rabbi, that he lives an unbearable
life. His main problem was there are nine of them in the family and all of them
live in one room.
The Rabbi thought for awhile. He asked the man if he had
any farm animals. The man said he owns several goats. The wise Rabbi suggested that if he were to
solve the man’s misery, the man should take into the room his goat to live with
them and return after a week. The man was aghast, but the rabbi insisted that
he should try it and come back to the Rabbi after a week.
So the man did as he was told. A week later the man
returned looking terribly miserable and distraught than before. “We can’t stand
it,” he told the rabbi. “The goat is filthy.”
The rabbi was unaffected by the man’s complaint. He told
the man to go home and let the goat out and come back again after a week.
The man did as he was told. A week later the man returned,
happy, and beaming, with joy. He told the Rabbi, “Life is wonderful. We enjoy
every minute of it now that the goat is out of our place, only the nine of us.”
(Reader's Digest [12/81].)
