A Story

One day some Americans were having dinner at a hotel in London. When fish was put on the table one of them, a young man said: “Let’s examine the fish carefully, perhaps we’ll find a diamond in it.” Everybody began to laugh, but an old man said quietly: “Yes, I’m sure we have all heard stories like that. Let me tell you what happened to me once.”

  “When I was a young man”, he began, “I worked for a big company in New York; and I was sent to England to do some work there.  I was in love with a beautiful girl, and before I left for England, we decided that we would get married when I returned home.

    I stayed in England for two months. I sent letters and postcards to the girl almost every day, but after the first two weeks I didn’t receive any answers. But I didn’t think anything was the matter, and before I left for home, I bought a beautiful diamond ring for her.

 On the ship one morning, a telegram was brought to me. It was from a friend in New York, who told me that the girl had changed her mind and was going to get married to another man. I was so angry that I threw the diamond ring into the sea.

 My friend came to the port to meet me, and he invited me to dinner. While we were sitting down at the table and I was eating fish, I suddenly felt something hard in my mouth. What do you think it was?”

 “The diamond!” all the Americans cried.

 “No,” the old man answered, “It was the fish bone.”