A Penny For Your Thoughts


          Benjamin Smith was the curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
          although his primary  job was to keep  all of the  exhibits clean
          and  polished. One  day  he  happened to  be  dusting around  the
          Arabian exhibit, and  he noticed an ancient urn  that needed some
          cleaning. He  got out his  dust rag and  began polishing.  Lo and
          behold,  an enormous  genie appeared  before  him. "Master,"  the
          genie  began, "I am the genie  of the urn. I  can grant you three
          wishes, but  there is one condition I will put on you -- you must
          never shave or cut  your beard for the rest of  your life, or you
          will  be forced to  take my place inside  the urn forever." Benny
          thought about it for a bit,  and decided it was a fair  condition
          for  three wishes.  So Benny  made  his three  wishes and  became
          tremendously happy. Over  the years, Benny's beard  became longer
          and longer until it almost reached  the floor. As it grew longer,
          it began  to itch more and more.  He tried to ignore  it, but the
          itch constantly  became worse. Finally  he decided he had  to get
          rid of the beard and he  shaved it off. Instantly he was  trapped
          in the urn to stay there forever. The moral of the story: A BENNY
          SHAVED IS A BENNY URNED.