An old priest grew weary of the frequent confessions of adultery in his parish. One Sunday, he declared from the pulpit, "If I hear one more confession of adultery, I'll quit!"
Since everyone liked him, they devised a code word. From then on, anyone who had committed adultery would simply say they had "fallen." This arrangement satisfied the old priest, and it worked well until his eventual passing at a ripe old age.
About a week after a new priest arrived, he visited the town mayor, looking very concerned. "You must do something about the sidewalks in town," the priest insisted. "When people come to confession, they keep talking about having fallen."
The mayor began to laugh, realizing no one had informed the new priest about the code. Before the mayor could explain, the priest pointed an accusing finger at him and said, "I don't know what you find so amusing. Your wife fell three times this week."