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Author Topic:   The Bell Ringers: The Whole Story
Spock
Serf

Posts: 6
From: MD, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 04 October 2001 22:55     Click Here to See the Profile for Spock   Click Here to Email Spock        Reply w/Quote   
It was an ancient, but rather inconsequential village situated along a road less traveled, about a day's walk northwest of Calcutta, India. There was little there in the way of commerce and the people, who were either farmers or herdsmen, lived close to the land, depending upon it to yield a living. Beyond survival, there was little to brighten their day. Occasionally they would have the opportunity to show hospitality to a traveler who took the wrong fork at the intersection about eight miles back.

They were an humble people who had few possessions of which to boast. But there was one thing in which they took great pride. The stone temple which had stood for centuries in the center of the village was the focal point of their entire social life. The one thing they had desired and worked toward obtaining for the last two hundred years had finally been secured a large bronze bell for the temple belfry.

One day there was a little excitement in the village. It seems that a farmer coming from the field where he had gathered a few turnips stopped his wagon beside the house where he usually did, unhitched the donkey and led him to the stall. He told his children to get the turnips out of the wagon and take them to the watering trough and wash them. The problem arose because the farmer, distracted by the children's joyful squeals, forgot to place a chock under the wagon wheel. The wagon grew lighter as the turnips were removed and with the jostling of the children it began to roll backward. There were two smaller children in the wagon who, by the time they perceived the wagon was rolling, were afraid to jump out so they began to scream.

The road leading out of the village was not very steep and the friction of the wheel bearings prevented the wagon from gaining much momentum, but it had a good head start on the men of the village who, at first, had ignored the children's screams. However, without intervention it was certain that the wagon would run off the road and down the steep hillside resulting in severe injury to the children. As luck would have it, there was a stranger walking up the hill into the village, and perceiving the danger to the children ran toward the approaching wagon. Upon reaching the wagon he ran alongside until his speed matched that of the wagon and then by getting in front of it he managed to retard its progress until it came to a stop.

The men of the town quickly arrived and chocked the wheels and gratefully retrieved their children who were now safe. They gathered around the young hero, slapping him on the back and expressing their gratitude for his brave act. His bravery was all the more marveled at because, as the men of the town quickly noticed, the young man had no arms!

The assembled group escorted the young hero into the village square singing his praises to everyone there. After some of the excitement died down the village leaders began to talk of how they might reward the young hero. Our hero declined the necessity of any reward. The leaders, however, insisted it would not be right to fail to bestow some sort of honor for this brave act. After much debate, the priest who served at the temple stepped forward to address the group.

"For eight generations the people who worship at this temple have brought special offerings out of their meager earnings for the purpose of purchasing a fine bronze bell to call the people to assemble. Such a bell would be very expensive and many have made great sacrifice to purchase it. We have just recently installed that bell in our temple and it is rung only for special occasions. The people of this village would consider it a great honor to themselves for a man of your caliber to ring our bell.... but I see you have no arms, so how would it be possible?"

Our hero replied, "I would indeed be honored to ring your bell. Since I was born without arms I have learned that there other ways to accomplish what is to be done. Take me to the belfry and I will find a way to ring it."

The priest and some village leaders and our hero ascended the stairs to the belfry. Our hero told the others to stand back so that the bell could swing freely. He then placed his forehead against the rim of the bell and pushed. The bell swung a few inches and stopped. Our hero let the bell swing back toward himself and as it slowed he placed his forehead against it and pushed again. By careful timing of his pushes he was able to get the bell to swing a little farther with each successive push. Just as the bell was swinging almost enough for the clapper to strike, a bird nesting above the bell was disturbed and flew out past our hero. The movement startled him and upset his timing so that he rushed the next push. The swinging bell met his forehead with such momentum that our hero was knocked completely out of the belfry and fell to the ground below.

Everyone was stunned by this turn of events. The young hero they had wanted to honor now lay dead as a result of their good intentions. A terrible tragedy! The priest lamented, "He whom we wanted to honor we have killed, and we never even asked him his name. He is a stranger to us, but it may be that he lives in a nearby village. Everyone come and take a good look at him and see if you know him."

So the people lined up and filed past the young hero's body, but each one failed to identify him. Near the end of the line an old lady stood leaning on her cane peering at the young man. Finally she spoke, … "I can't call his name, but...his face sure rings a bell."


There was nothing to do but to give the young man a decent funeral and burial. They put him in a borrowed casket and assembled the entire village to pay him homage. They all entered the temple and closed the doors and began the eulogies.

Just after the doors of the temple were closed a stranger came up the road toward the village. Arriving there he was perplexed to see the village apparently deserted. He walked all around peering into doorways and marveling that the entire population of the village seemed to have vanished. After a while he heard muffled sounds coming from the temple so we went to investigate. Finding the doors locked he knocked and an usher came out.

"Stranger," the usher said, "The whole village is here for a funeral service. Is there something you need?"

"I was just looking for my brother," the stranger replied. "If anyone in the village has seen him they would know him for he has no arms. Do you know if he has been here?"

"Stranger," the usher replied, "I have some bad news. Your brother, who was a hero to us, was killed in a tragic accident and it is his funeral service we are holding here."

The usher went into the temple and interrupting the eulogies announced to the assembled people the arrival of the stranger at the door. Of course, this stopped the funeral proceedings. After some confusion and explanations to the stranger about all his brother had done, the priest said, "Stranger, it was our intention to honor you brother by allowing him to ring our new bell. I think it only fitting that, in light of all that has happened, you should ring the bell on his behalf."

The stranger agreed and he and the village leaders ascended the stairs to the belfry. "We have not yet been able to purchase a rope long enough to reach the vestibule," said the priest, "but we have our best short rope on the bell." The stranger wrapped the rope around his hand so that he had a good grip and gave a mighty tug. Their best rope broke! The stranger lost his balance, staggered backward and over the parapet to the ground below.

You cannot imagine the stunned surprise; the gasps of disbelief; the wails of agony that ensued. It is just not possible that two such tragedies occur in the same day. After the people had begun to collect their wits the priest said, "You know, in all the excitement of the brother of our hero arriving here, we never did ask his name. Does anyone here recognize this man?" The people lined up as before and looked carefully at the stranger, but no one recognized him. Finally the same old lady as before studied his face intently while leaning on her cane and said, . . . "I can't call his name, but... he's a dead ringer for his brother!


So once again the church was left without a bell ringer. An advertisement was placed in the local paper and within days a young man who possessed two stout arms applied for the job. The pastor was greatly impressed with the fellow's bell-ringing skill, and he offered the job. The young man accepted and the pastor began to fill out some paperwork. He said, "Now what is your name?"

The fellow replied, "I cannot tell you, but I will whisper it to the bell." Now this seemed somewhat unusual to the pastor, but he needed a bell ringer, so he nodded his approval. The young man leaned toward the bell, cupped his hands around his mouth, and whispered something unintelligible to the bell. The pastor, wondering if he was doing the right thing, left the young man to his work.

For weeks the skies above the city were filled with the most glorious tones imaginable, until one day -- quite by accident -- the young man slipped, fell out the side of the belfry, and plunged to his death upon the pavement below.

A crowd gathered 'round; a policeman knelt beside the body; the pastor walked outside to investigate the commotion. The policeman looked up at the pastor and asked, "Do you know this man's name?"

The pastor paused, and then replied slowly, … "No, he tolled the bell."


So once again the church was left without a bell ringer. An advertisement was placed in the local paper and within days another young man who possessed two stout arms applied for the job, and the pastor asked him to demonstrate his skill with the rope.

The man replied, "I have no need for the rope--just watch this!" With that, he dropped his jaw, tilted his head backward, and produced a perfect E above high C. As he held the note, the bell began to resonate with sympathetic vibrations, and a beautiful tone could be heard throughout the city. The beauty of the sound was incredible, and the man was hired on the spot. With his unique skill, it soon became obvious that the man could ring the bell without even entering the belfry.

Each day at noon he would simply walk along the sidewalk by the church, drop his jaw, tilt his head backward, produce a perfect E above high C, and ring the bell to the amazement of all. Until one day, quite by accident, the vibrations caused the rope holding the bell to snap, and the bell flew out the side of the belfry, plunged toward the ground, and crushed the man to his death upon the pavement below.

A crowd gathered 'round; a policeman knelt beside the body; the pastor walked outside to investigate the commotion. The policeman looked up at the pastor and asked, "Do you know this man's name?"

The pastor paused, and then replied slowly, "No, but … he was a real humdinger!"

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Jaime Wolf
Knight

Posts: 66
From: Bexley, Australia
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 06 October 2001 21:24     Click Here to See the Profile for Jaime Wolf   Click Here to Email Jaime Wolf        Reply w/Quote   
Having been a bellringer for many years I thought I'd heard all (decent) variations of the "dead ringer" jokes. I'd never heard "He tolled the bell" before.

Thanks

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