The Letter

Once a lady did receive a letter in the mail
She cut open the envelope to see what was inside
The letter said, «Make copies to mail to 20 people
The chain has been around the world 50,000 times!»
The letter said there was a man who kept the chain unbroken
Soon afterward, he won a million dollars and retired
But another man had failed to keep the letter going
He was killed in an automobile just after he was fired
The lady cried, «This city is full of crazy people
Why must I put up with such rubbish every day?»
She left home the very next day to see her younger sister
But she fell into an underground cavern on the way
A banker got the letter and failed to mail it promptly
Clearly, he did not believe in the letter’s awesome power
He fell out the window of a seven-story building
Got tangled in the trolley wires, and sparks shot out his mouth
The letter fell into the hands of a yankee antique dealer
He decided it was bunk and threw it in the cellar
He bid on an auction for a haunted vianola
When he got it home, the ghost inside haunted his house forever
A preacher got the letter and read it top to bottom
But he did not consider himself a superstitious man
The minute that he threw it out, his blind and deaf assistant
Cut him into pieces and sold him by the pound
So all of you young gentlemen and all of you young ladies
I know you’ll take a warnin' and listen well to me
Never dare to make a sport of, ridicule, or laugh at
The people who are not afraid to fear the powers that be