The Rat Statue

One day a man was browsing in a Chinese Curio Shop. He found a small, golden statue of a rat and became intrigued. He took it over to the proprietor and asked, “How much for the statue?”

The proprietor said, “The statue is $10, but the story behind the statue is $1000!”

The man threw a $10 bill at the proprietor and snorted, “Keep your story,” and walked out of the store.

Soon he heard a scratching sound behind him. He turned and saw a rat. He kept walking and heard louder scratching sounds. The turned around and saw a dozen rats following him. He sped up his pace, hear very loud scratching noises, and, upon turning around, he saw hundreds of rats following him. At this point he started running and the number of rats following him grew into the thousands. He was in a panic when he found himself at the end of a pier with the throng of rats close behind. He took the statue and threw it into the water.

The rats followed the statue into the water. They all drowned and died.

The man walked back to the Curio Shop and entered.

The proprietor saw the man and said, “Ah. You have returned to hear the story behind the statue.”

The man replied, “No. Do you have any small, golden statues of lawyers?”