Dear Twainians,

        I'm trying to remember where I read a joke--well, a humorous story,
anyway--so that I can quote and cite it properly.

        It's a variation on the world-as-vale-of-tears theme, and the general
situation is that a preacher (rabbi? somebody's grandfather?) is
declaiming something like so:  "Oh, what a world of woe.  Happiness is
uncertain, misery certain.  Lucky is he who passes from it quickly.
Luckiest of all not to be born at all.  But to whom is such good fortune
granted? --Scarcely one in a thousand."

        A lugubrious enough joke, but, with that careful attempt at accuracy,
one of my favorite punchlines.  Is it from somewhere in Twain?

                With thanks for any help,
                        John Sitter


English Dept., Emory University