Drunk Soldier

One day Mullah Nasruddin was in the presence of the Sultan when the Sultan's men brought in a soldier who was drunk as a skunk. They asked the Sultan how he should be punished.

`Hit him three hundred times with a cane!' ordered the Sultan. Upon hearing this harsh sentence, Mullah Nasruddin started to laugh.

`Mullah, Mullah! How dare you laugh?' the Sultan thundered, `What are you laughing at? Are you making fun of me?'

`Heaven forbid, Great Sultan, I do not make fun of you.' Mullah Nasruddin explained, `I laugh because you either have never been beaten with a cane or you don't know how to count.'