A young guy named Jim meets a farmer in a bar.
They get talking over a beer at the counter and very soon Jim’s bought a horse from the farmer unseen for $250. Not only has he not seen the nag, Jim even agreed to pay upfront too.
The farmer agrees to deliver the horse to Jim’s home the next day.
Sure enough the next morning the farmer arrives at Jim’s home but the news is not quite what Jim is expecting.
“Sorry, son,” says the farmer, “but unfortunately the horse has died.”
“Well,” says Jim, “just give me back my money.”
“Sorry, son,” responds the farmer, “I can’t do that because I’ve already spent your money.”
“Well, in that case,” says Jim, “just bring me the dead horse.”
“What are you going to do with a dead horse?” asks the farmer.
“I’ll raffle him off, to get my money back,” says Jim.
“You can’t raffle a dead horse!” exclaims the farmer, sounding a little surprised.
“Sure, I can. Just watch me!” says Jim. “I just won’t mention the fact that the horse is dead.”
A couple of months later, the farmer bumps into Jim in the same bar where they met originally.
“Hi,” says the farmer. “Tell me, what happened to the dead horse?”
“I raffled him off like I said I would,” Jim responds.
“Oh really, and how did that go?” asks the farmer.
“It was brilliant,” says Jim. “I sold 1,000 raffle tickets at $5 each and after what I gave you for the horse plus expenses, I made $4,575 profit.”
“Really?” says the farmer. “Didn’t anyone complain about the horse being dead?”
“Yes,” says Jim, “the guy who won. So I gave him back his five dollars.”