Keeping Irish lent

An Irishman moves into
a tiny hamlet in County Kerry, walks into the pub and
promptly orders three beers. The bartender raises his
eyebrows, but serves the man three beers, which he drinks
quietly at a table, alone.

An hour later, the man
has finished the three beers and orders three more. This
happens yet again. The next evening the man again orders and drinks
three beers a time, several times. Soon the entire town is whispering about the Man Who Orders Three Beers.

Finally, a week later,
the bartender broaches the subject on behalf of the
town. "I don't mean to pry, but folks around
here are wondering why you always order three beers?"
"Tis odd,isn't it?" the man replies. "You see, I have
two brothers, and one went to America, and the other to

Australia. We promised each other that we would always order an
extra twbeers whenever we drank as a way of keeping up the family
bond."

The bartender and the
whole town were pleased with this answer, and soon the
"Man Who Orders Three Beers" became a local
celebrity and source of pride to the hamlet, even to the
extent that out-of-towners would come to watch him drink.
Then, one day, the man
comes in and orders only two beers. The bartender pours
them with a heavy heart. This continues for the rest of the
evening. He orders only two beers.
The word flies around
town. Prayers are offered for the soul of one of the
brothers.
The next day, the
bartender says to the man, "Folks around here, me first
of all, want to offer condolences to you for the death of
one of your brothers. You know-the two beers and
all."
The man ponders this
for a moment, then replies, "You'll be happy to
hear that both my two brothers are alive and well.
It's just that I, me-self, have decided to give up
drinking for Lent."
Cheers ! Mug Mug