After fracturing both of his knees in a nasty fall, Richard Trench (the archbishop of Dublin) lived in constant fear of paralysis. At a formal dinner one evening, he began to mutter to himself: "Oh, it's come at last... I can't feel a thing... I'm paralyzed."

A woman seated beside him, observing his agitation, finally asked Trench what was wrong. "I've been pinching my leg for five minutes and I can't feel a thing," he explained. "I must be paralyzed."

"It's all right, Your Grace," the woman replied with a blushing smile, "it's my leg you've been pinching!"