A man crawled into town along the gutters looking for work. A kindly
priest found him, and discovered that the man had come from the previous
town and found no jobs. He told the priest he would do anything. To the
kindly priest, the man was a god send. He bell tower ringer had quit that
very day. "I will house you and feed you, if you will ring my tower bells
for me. They are very loud." Anything, agreed the man. That Sunday on cue
from the priest, the man rang the bells. He had to ring them from the top
to the tower. However the heavy bells swung back hit the man on the nose.
The man complained to the priest. "Well, stand on one side of the tower",
suggested the priest. The man did just that next sunday, but the bells
swung back anhit the man on the face. The man enjoyed working for the
priest and did not want to quit. The priest suggested the opposite side
this time. The man tried just that, but the tower bells swung back and
scraped him. Exasperated, the man asked the priest for more suggestions.
The priest did not want to lose his best bell ringer so far, and he was
getting frustrated. "Well, let's try this. Leave the tower doors open, and
when you ring the bells, go downstairs immediately. Does that sound
workable?" It did sound workable to the man. He would not let the priest
down.
That next sunday, right on cue from the priest, the man rang the tower
bells. The bells sounded, and along with it a scream from the old man. It
seems that the bells swund back, and he could not move fast enough to get
downstairs. The bells knocked him out of the towers.
"Let me through, let me through. I am an officer." The officer studied the
man, and upon not recognizing him, began asking questions as to who he
was. Finally he got to the priest. "Do you know who he is, Father?"
The kindly priest studied the man. "No I do not, Officer. But is it funny.
He face seems to ring a bell."
