An easy Birth Method - A woman was giving a difficult birth to a child in a villages. As her relatives were waiting for many hours, they decided to call Nasreddin Hodja. He came, listened to their story and went away. He returned in a few moments with a toy that made a squeaking sound. They asked him why and he said: “Because the child will hear the “voice” of the toy and will very quickly come out to play.”

Darkness - One day the Hodja lost his ring. He searched and searched, but he couldn't find it. Then he got out of the house and began to search the ring on the road. People passing by asked him: “Hodja, what are you doing?” “I've lost my ring at home, and now I'm searching it.” “Why don't you search it inside?” “The house is too dark. I can't see anything, so I'm searching my ring outside!”

Credit - A man wanted money from the Hodja on credit, but the Hodja said: “I have no money, but I can give you credit. How much do you want?”

Cow and the donkey - The Hodja had a little stable and a nice donkey. He did not want to buy a cow, because his donkey would be disturbed and also he did not have much money. But his wife wanted to have a cow and she convinced him at last. The Hodja couldn't stand against his wife, so he bought a cow and put it in the stable. But the stable was small and the animals couldn't stay quiet. Hodja got tired of the situation and said: “Dear God, kill this cow and save my donkey”. A few days later Hodja entered the stable and saw the dead donkey and the living cow. “Dear God”, he said. “You have been God for so many years but still, you cannot distinguish a cow from a donkey!”

Eat my fur coat - The Hodja was invited out to dinner. He went in his old clothes and nobody would even talk to him. When he found a few minutes to spare, he rushed home and collected his fur coat. When he came back, he was treated with great respect.

Everybody wanted to speak to him. When they sat down for dinner he said: “Eat, fur coat, eat!” And he explained to the curious people: “If this regard is for my coat, it must eat also.”

Duck Soup - The Hodja had nothing to eat in his house. So he went for a walk. Ducks were swimming in the lake. Then he began to drink the water of the lake. “Hodja, what are you doing there?” asked a man. “I am drinking duck soup”, he replied. Everything is possible - One day Hodja's friends came to his house and called him. But Hodja, who didn't want them in his house, told his wife to say that he wasn't at home. “But we saw that he entered the house”, said his friends. Hodja listening to them got very angry. He opened the window and shouted: “You silly men! Isn't it possible, that this house has two doors? Couldn't this poor man have gone throughout the backdoor?”

Nasreddin Hodja's picture. The original is in the Topkapi Palace Museum, XVIIth. Century hand written book (Topkapi Palace Museum Library Cat. No. 2142).

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