BY GOD WE LIVE, BY GOD WE DIE

THERE WAS THIS LITTLE BOY WHO HAD A BAD HABIT. HE
ALWAYS SAID "BY GOD." HIS MINISTER WAS RATHER UPSET
AT THIS, BECAUSE THE BOY WOULD YELL THIS OUT AT THE
MOST EMBARRASSING TIMES. ONE DAY THE MINISTER MADE A
DEAL WITH THE BOY. THE MINISTER KNEW THAT THE BOY WAS
JUST MAD ABOUT APPLE PIE, SO HE THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD
HAVE NO PROBLEMS IN MAKING A GOOD DEAL WITH THE LAD.
THE BOY WAS MADE TO PROMISE THAT THE NEXT TIME HE SAID
"BY GOD" HE WOULD HAVE TO GIVE THE MINISTER AN APPLE
PIE. THE BOY MADE THE MINISTER PROMISE THAT NEXT TIME
HE SAID "BY GOD," HE WOULD HAVE TO GIVE THE BOY AN
APPLE PIE.
WELL, NEXT SUNDAY THE MINISTER WAS, AS USUAL, MAKING
HIS SERMON. IT WAS ALL FIRE AND BRIMSTONE AND AT THE
END THE MINISTER YELLED OUT IN A VERY EMOTIONAL
MANNER, "BY GOD WE LIVE, BY GOD WE DIE." AND THE BOY
JUMPED UP AND SAID, "BY GOD YOU OWE ME AN APPLE PIE."

Submitter comment: I DO NOT KNOW WHERE I FIRST HEARD THIS JOKE, BUT IT
ALWAYS HAS REMAINED WITH ME. I THINK THAT I HEARD
IT ABOUT FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 04-16-1965