The "Three Bearded Dwarves Gruff" or "Why Dwarves Like Rocks"
A children's fable

There were three dwarves who needed to get across orc-infested mountains to a rich vein of ore. They knew there were too many orcs to fight their way through, but they really wanted to find the ore. So they came up with a plan.

The smallest dwarg went first. He carried a number of packs with him. When the orcs stopped him, he told them "Don't kill me... my brother is coming and he has a lot more treasure." He showed the orcs he had mostly tools and just some silver, so they let him go.

The second dwarf came through with more tools, and just a little bit of gold. But when the orcs stopped him, he said "Don't kill me... my brother is coming and he has a lot more treasure. He has mithril." So the orcs decided to let him pass.

Finally the third dwarf approached, laden with sacks that the orcs were sure were full of treasure. Every single orc piled out to intercept him... and he yelled "Now!"

The first two dwarves detonated the explosives they had planted and the orcs were buried beneath a mighty landslide. The three dwarves found their ore vein and were very rich.

The moral of this story is: Orcs are dumb.

by Jason Zara, 5 May 2001