Quasimodo decided it was time for a vacation. He wantd to get away for a few days, see a few new cathedrals, hear some new bells. He went to the Bishop and asked permission. The Bishop was agreeable to the idea, he told Quasimodo that he'd been a faithful servant and that his record in the church was very good. There had been that one incident with a girl, but the church was inclined to overlook that. He told Quasimodo to prepare for his journey and that someone from the congregation would be selected to ring the bells in his absence. Quasimodo was elated. He ran upstairs and started planning and packing. He could barely sleep that night. The next morning, as he was preparing to ring the bells, a young man arrived in the bell tower and told Quasimodo that he was there to learn to ring the bells. Quasimodo was skeptical to say the least. The young man was quite young and somewhat small considering the task at hand. Quasimodo started to send him away, but the young man pleaded with him. He explained that this was a great honor for his family and that he would do his best to meet Quasimodo's standards. Quasimodo relented and started explaining the process. He told the young man to use the ropes to start the bells swinging. Once they're swinging, he explained, you must jump onto the bells and use your body to get the bells swinging to their limits. Once this is done, he explained that you must jump off, let the bell swing towards you, and let it hit you squarely in the forehead to achieve the perfect tone. Quasimodo was firm in his explanation that it must only hit the forehead. The young man said that he understood and he would follow the instructions to the letter. He grabbed the rope and, despite his diminutive stature, had little trouble making the bells swing. Once they were ringing loudly, he jumped on to the bell and swung it to greater heights. As it swung away, he deftly jumped off, landed, and prepared for the blow to his forehead. Unfortunately, the bell hit him fully in the face. The tone was wonderful, but the force of the blow threw him out of the tower and down to his death on the street below. A crowd quickly gathered and as Quasimodo arrived on the scene they all asked “Who is this young man?” Quasimodo could only shake his head sadly and reply “I don't know, but his face sure rings a bell.” Quasimodo spent the rest of the day in deep depression. All he wanted was a simple busman's holiday, and his request ended in the death of a poor young man. The next morning, as he was sadly preparing to ring the bells, another young man, slightly older and larger than the young man from the previous day, arrived in the bell tower. He bore a striking resemblance to the first young man, and understood Quasimodo's confused look at once. He explained that it was his brother that had died the day before, but that ringing the bells was still a great honor for his family and that he had been sent as a replacement for his ill fated brother. Quasimodo was again sceptical, but his desire for a vacation won out and he explained everything as he had done the day before. He placed particular emphasis on the need to let the bell hit you in the forehead and nowhere else. He explained that the young man's brother had made a mistake by allowing it to hit him in the face and that had caused his death. The new young man assured Quasimodo that he understood. He took the rope and started the bells, jumped on and had them swinging perfectly, jumped off and allowed the bell to strike him perfectly on the forehead. This resulted in a magnificent tone. Unfortunately, he was still to light and the bell threw him from the tower to his death on the street below. Once again a crowd gathered asking “Who is this young man?” Quasimodo simply replied “I don't know, but he's a dead ringer for his brother.”
Roy I also heard it several years ago and it does make on chuckle. Also if I ever see an ad in the newspaper for help wanted: Bell Ringer. I will know to wear lead shoes. That way I won't be thrown from the bell tower and be another dead ringer for the other two.
