As a man leans against the farm gate and watches the farmer round up the sheep, he realizes that the farmer is using a pig, not a sheepdog.

What’s more, the pig skillfully herding the sheep into the pen has only three legs.

“Excuse me,” the man says to the farmer, “but why does this pig only have three legs?”

“Let me tell you a little bit about this pig,” says the farmer.

“This pig not only herds my sheep, but also sings in the morning, milks the cows in the morning and evening, and collects the eggs from the chickens.”

“And that’s not all,” he continued. “This pig can count! He can count so well that he does all the farm accounts and fills out my tax forms.”

“What a wonderful pig,” said the man.

“I’m not done yet,” said the farmer.

“Two years ago, there was a fire in my farmhouse, and the pig called the fire department and then brought water from the river to put out the flames. Then he waded through the smoke to where my wife and children were lying unconscious and pulled them out of the burning house.

“Wow!” said the man, “this is a truly incredible pig. But I still don’t understand why it only has three legs!”

“Ah, well,” says the farmer.

“When you have a pig that special, you don’t eat it all at once.