Stories of Mulla Naseruddin (Hodja)
1. Mulla's
remedy
One day Mulla met an acquaintance in the street. The man looked worried and
Mulla asked him what was troubling him. "I
have this terrible dream," said the man. "Every night I dream there's
a monster hiding under the bed. When I get up and look, there's no one there
but I can't sleep afterwards. I am on my way to the doctor's house now. He says
he can cure me for a hundred dinars."
"A hundred dinars!" exclaimed Mulla. "I can rid you of your problem
for five!"
The man immediately took out 5 dinars and gave them to Mulla. "Now tell
me what to do," said the man.
"The remedy is simple," said Mulla, pocketing the money. "Saw
off the legs of the bed."
2. Mulla
and the scholar
Mulla Nasruddin ferrying a scholar across a river said something ungrammatical
to him. "Have you never studied grammar?" asked the scholar. "No,"
said Mulla. "Then half your life has been wasted," said the scholar
looking pityingly at him.
Sometime later Mulla turned to his passenger. "Have you ever learnt to
swim?" he asked. "No," said the scholar. "Then your whole
life has been wasted," said Mulla. "We're sinking."
3. Everyone
Is Right
Once when Mulla Nasreddin was serving as qadi, one of his neighbors came to
him with a complaint against a fellow neighbor.
The Mulla listened to the charges carefully, then concluded, "Yes, dear
neighbor, you are quite right."
Then the other neighbor came to him. The Mulla listened to his defense carefully,
then concluded, "Yes, dear neighbor, you are quite right."
The Mulla's wife, having listened in on the entire proceeding, said to him,
"Husband, both men cannot be right."
The Mulla answered, "Yes, dear wife, you are quite right."