There was a forgetful actor, once a great actor who had been in the acting profession for a number of years, more years in fact than he cared to remember.
However, he had a problem in that over those years he had become a forgetful actor and could no longer remember his lines.
As a result, he fell out of favour with the theatre management and struggled to find any work in the acting profession.
Finally, after years of unsuccessfully looking for work, he found a theater where they were prepared to give him a chance to shine again.
The theatre director said to him, “This is the most important part and it has only one line. You must walk on to the stage carrying a rose. You must hold the rose with just one finger and your thumb, sniff the rose deeply and then say the line, ‘Ah, the sweet aroma of my mistress‘”.
Well, as you might imagine, the actor was thrilled at being given this opportunity and vowed to himself that he would remember the line at all costs and not let the theatre management down.
All day long before the play, he was practicing his line over and over again, until he had it memorised absolutely perfect.
Finally, the time came for the play to begin.
The curtain went up, the actor walked onto the stage, held his fingers up and with great passion delivered the line; “Ah, the sweet aroma of my mistress“.
The theatre erupted. The audience was screaming with laughter and the director was steaming! “You fool!” he cried, “You have ruined me!”
The actor was bewildered, “What happened? Did I forget my line?” he asked.
“No, you idiot!” the theatre director screamed, “You forgot the rose!”
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