Home Economics

~ Home Economics ~

Nasreddin Hodja decided to sell his donkey. He took him to the market place and handed him over to the market crier.

`Sell this donkey for a good price.' he said, `I'll give you five akce.' The broker took the donkey and started to shout out his traits.

`A donkey like this never came to this market before. You cannot find its kind anywhere else. Such a bargain! You can pile as much load as you want, this donkey can carry it. If you don't feed him for three days, he won't complain. His strength won't be any less. He is not stubborn. You pull him this way, he goes this way, you pull him that way, he goes that way. He yields, shows no obstinacy. He can fly like a bird. You can drink your coffee on it when he is trotting...'

As the hawker praised the donkey thus, the buyers lined up, the price started to increase. The Hodja was surprised to see all these people raising the bid for his donkey. He hadn't known that his animal had so many qualities. A great bargain? He decided to keep him after all. He paid the crier's fee and took the donkey back home.

When the Hodja arrived home, he told his wife what had happened. His wife agreed that the Hodja had done the smart thing by paying the hawker and taking his donkey back.

`Today, I did a profitable deal too.' she started to recount, `Salt seller was passing by. I told him that we had some wheat bran to exchange for salt. He agreed, so we put the sac of bran on one scale and the sac of salt on the other scale. But our bran came short, so when the man was not looking, I slipped my golden bracelet into the bran sac, that way I was able to get more salt. The salt seller picked up the bran sac and left without doubting anything.'

Nasreddin Hodja stroked his long white beard contentedly. `Wife,' he said, `I from outside, you from inside, we are managing this house pretty well.'