Pots Full of Gold

Mullah Nasruddin took employment as an imam in a town other than his own.

In this town there was a tradition.

People saved their money and when they had enough gold coins to fill up an earthenware pot, they buried the pot full of coins in their gardens.

Once a year, they dug up the vessels from their hidden spots, looked at their coins and then buried them again.

When Mullah Nasruddin learned about this practice, he found an earthenware jug, filled it with pebbles and buried it.

'Mullah Saab, that won't do.' said the townsfolk, `You are supposed to fill it with gold.'

`Good people,' Mullah Nasruddin laughed, 'as long as you are not going to spend it, what difference does it make if it is gold or pebbles?'