During the game, the batsman noticed that the splice was coming out of his bat.
Playing in a small village, he was at a loss where to take it to be repaired. So he went to the blacksmith.
“Splice coming loose, eh?” said the blacksmith. “I get a lot of you chaps in here. I'll have it fixed in a minute.”
He put the bat on the anvil, took an enormous hammer and gave it a mighty smash. The bat was as good as new.
“Marvelous!” said the batsman. “How much do I owe you?”
“Let's say a fiver, eh?”
“A fiver? All you did was hit it with a hammer. We hammer all day and don’t make quite as much per hit!”
“I'll make you out a bill,” said the blacksmith.
He scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it over.
The receipt read:
“For hitting bat with hammer = 10 pence.
For knowing where to hit 4.90 pounds.”
|
