Having Fallen
There's an old priest who got sick of all the people in his parish who kept confessing to adultery. One Sunday, in the pulpit, he said, "If I hear one more person confess to adultery, I'll quit!"
Well, everyone liked him, so they came up with a code word. Someone who had committed adultery would say they had "fallen."
This seemed to satisfy the old priest and things went well, until the priest died at a ripe old age. About a week after the new priest arrived, he visited the mayor of the town and seemed very concerned.
The priest said, "You have to do something about the sidewalks in town. When people come into the confessional, they keep talking about having fallen."
The mayor started to laugh, realizing that no one had told the new priest about the code word.
Before the mayor could explain, the priest shook an accusing finger at the mayor and said, "I don't know what you're laughing about, your wife fell three times this week!"
転んだ
ある年老いた神父は自分の教区で皆が姦淫の罪の告白ばかりをするのでほとほといやになっていた。ある日曜日の説教で神父は言う。「後一人誰かが姦淫の罪の告白をしに来たら、私はもうやめる！」皆はこの神父の事が好きだったため、彼らは暗号を考え出した。姦淫の罪を懺悔する場合、「転んだ」と言うことにしたのである。
このアイデアは老神父を満足させ、良い年で天寿を全うするまで問題が無かった。そして新しい神父が来る。一週間が経つと、この神父は市長の所にとても心配そうな顔をして訪れた。
神父は言う。「この町の歩道をどうにかしなくてはいけません。皆が懺悔をしに来ると口を揃えて転んだ話をするのです。」
市長はまだ誰も新しい神父に暗号を教えていないことに気づき、笑い始めた。
市長が説明を始める前に、神父は市長を責めるように指を振る上げるとこう言う。「何がおかしいか知りませんが、あなたの奥さんは今週だけで３回も転んでいるんですよ！」
