Paddy had long heard the stories of an amazing family tradition.
It seems that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all beenable to walk on water on their 18th birthday.
On that special day, they'd each walked across the lake to the pub on the far side for their first legal drink.
So when Paddy's 18th birthday came around, he and his pal Mick, took aboat out to the middle of the lake, Paddy, stepped out of the boat ...andnearly drowned!
Mick just barely managed to pull him to safety.
Furious and confused, Paddy went to see his grandmother .
"Grandma," he asked, "Tis me 18th birthday, so why can't I walk across thelake like me father, his father and his father before him?"
Granny looked deeply into Paddy's, troubled blue eyes and said,
"Because ye father, ye grandfather and ye great-grandfather were all bornin December, when the lake is frozen, and ye were born in August, ya b****y idiot!"
