Cabin

A psychologist, an engineer and a theologian were on a hunting trip in Canada. Seeking shelter, they knocked on the door of a small, isolated cabin. No one was home, but the front door was unlocked, and they entered. They saw something strange. A large pot-bellied, cast-iron stove was suspended in midair by wires attached to the ceiling beans. Why would a stove be elevated from the floor? The psychologist concluded, "It is obvious that this lonely trapper, isolated from humanity, has elevated his stove so that he can curl up under it and vicariously experience a return to his mother's womb." The engineer theorized, "The man is practicing laws of thermodynamics. By elevating his stove, he has discovered a way to distribute heat more evenly throughout the cabin." The theologian speculated, "I'm sure that hanging his stove from the ceiling has religious meaning. Fire lifted up has been a religious symbol for centuries." While they were debating the matter, the trapper returned. They immediately asked him why he had hung his pot-bellied stove by wires from the ceiling. "Had plenty of wire, not much stovepipe," the trapper said.