Once upon a time there lived a Jewish peasant named Joseph. He loved to philosophize. It was difficult for him to do anything because his thoughts took up all his time, and by the time he was ready, the opportunity was lost.
One day, while leaving for the market to sell wheat, Joseph said to his wife:
- As soon as I sell the wheat, I will send you a telegram.
He sold the wheat for a large profit and went to the post office. There he filled out the form and began to think. Then he wrote the following telegram:
“The wheat was sold profitably. I'm coming tomorrow. I love you and kiss you. Joseph".
Then he began to think, “My wife will think I'm crazy. Why "profitable"? Was I going to sell the wheat at a loss?” So he crossed out the word “profitable.”
Then he became more attentive: after all, if he wrote one wrong word, he could make other mistakes, so he began to think about each word. And he said to himself: “Why am I coming tomorrow? Was I planning to come next month? Or next year? My wife already knows that I will come as soon as I sell the wheat.” So he crossed out the words “I’m coming tomorrow.”
Then he thought: “My wife already knows very well that I went to sell wheat, so why write “wheat sold”?” He crossed that out too, and then started laughing. He thought: “I’m writing to my wife, why should I write “I love you and kiss you”? Am I writing to someone else's wife? Is this my wife’s birthday, or some kind of holiday?” So he crossed out these words too.
Now only the name “Joseph” remains.
Looking at the name, he said to himself: “Joseph, are you crazy? Your wife knows your name."
So he tore up the telegram and, happy that he had saved a lot of money and avoided stupidity, left the post office.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru