Vấp ngã

A priest grew so tired of his parishioners coming to confess to adultery that one day he announced in his sermon, ‘If one more person confesses to adultery, I'll give up the priesthood!’

Everyone loved him, so they agreed to stop using the word ‘adultery.’ Instead, they came up with a code word known only to themselves. Anyone who had been unfaithful would say during confession that they had ‘taken a fall.’

Everything went smoothly until the old priest died. About a week later, his replacement went to see the mayor, looking very worried.

‘You really must have the streets in this town repaired,’ he said. ‘Whenever my parishioners come to confession, they keep telling me they've taken a fall.’

The mayor burst out laughing, realizing that nobody had explained the code word to the new priest.

Annoyed, the priest said, ‘I don't know what you find so funny. Your wife has taken three falls this week!’

Từ vựng trong truyện

• parishioners: giáo dân trong giáo xứ
• adultery: sự ngoại tình
• sermon: bài giảng đạo
• code word: từ quy ước; mật ngữ
• confession: việc xưng tội