The Brass Rat

A man, visiting San Francisco, noticed a musty curio shop, which seemed to be
forgotten by time. It seemed very out of place in the busy city. The man's
curiosity was piqued, and he entered the shop. The store didn't seem to have
much traffic, and the shelves were full of dusty, but interesting items. The man
found himself strangely interested in a rather ugly brass rat on a shelf behind
the counter. Ugly it was, but he had never seen anything like it -- it was so
incredibly detailed, and life-like. He asked the shopkeeper for a price.


The man was pleased to learn that he could acquire the rat for only $5, and he
handed the shopkeeper the money. But, before giving the man the rat, the
shopkeeper sternly warned him, "This sale is final. If you leave the shop with
the brass rat, I won't take it back under any circumstances."


The man thought the warning was curious, given that the rat only cost $5. Even
if he decided he hated the rat, that was hardly an amount worth worrying about.
He agreed to the shopkeeper's terms, and left with the rat.


At first, everything seemed perfectly normal. But as he walked back toward his
car, the man started to hear strange rustling noises around him. Then he saw a
life rat scurry out of an alley, and start to follow him. Suddenly, rats seemed
to be appearing all around him, streaming out of sewers and dumpsters, all
following him and milling about his feet.


The man began to run, but the rats kept up in increasing numbers. The man
realized that he was being chased by literally tens of thousands of rats. The
ground came alive, as the rats swarmed behind him.


The man suddenly realized the significance of the shopkeeper's warning, and
knew what he had to do. He turned toward the bay, and ran as quickly as he could
toward the water. When he reached the waterfront, he threw the brass rat as far
as he could into the bay. The rats raced past him, following the brass rat into
the water, where they drowned.


The man returned to the curio shop, and upon seeing him enter the shopkeeper
shouted, "I told you, no refunds. I don't want trouble here. The sale was final,
and you can't return the merchandise."


The man smiled, and replied, "Oh, I don't want to return the rat. I just want
to know -- do you have a brass lawyer in stock?"