Three Gifts

Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother. The first brother, Donald, said, "I built a big house for our mother." The second brother, Robert, said, "I sent her a Mercedes with a driver." The third brother, Joseph, said, "You remember how mom enjoys reading Shakespeare. She can't see very well, so I sent her a remarkable parrot that can recite the complete works of Shakespeare. It took trainers 12 years to teach him - he's one of a kind. Mama just has to name a poem or a play and the parrot recites it." Soon thereafter, Mom sent out her letters of thanks. "Donald," she said, "the house you built is so big. I live only in one room, but I have to clean the whole house." To her second son, she wrote, "Robert, I am too old to travel. I stay most of the time at home so I rarely use the Mercedes. And that driver is so rude! He's so much trouble!" Finally, to her third son, she wrote, "My dearest Joseph," she said, "the chicken was delicious!"