26 May GET OTHERS TO PLAY WITH THE CARDS YOU DEAL
The German Chancellor Bismarck, enraged at the constant criticisms from Rudolf Virchow (the German pathologist and liberal politician), had his seconds call upon the scientist to challenge him to a duel.
“As the challenged party, I have the choice of weapons,” said Virchow, “and I choose these.” He held aloft two large and apparently identical sausages. “One of these,” he went on, “is infected with deadly germs; the other is sound. Let His Excellency decide which one he wishes to eat, and I will eat the other.”
Almost immediately the message came back that the chancellor had decided to cancel the duel.
THE LITTLE, BROWN BOOK OF ANECDOTES,
CLIFTON FADIMAN, ED., 1985
