The Quilt

One night, Nasreddin Hodja and his wife were awakened by a commotion coming from the street. Obviously some people were fighting. Hodja and his wife waited for the noises to go away but when the fight kept going on, Hodja decided to take a look. He was in his night dress, so he haphazardly took the quilt from the bed and put it over his shoulders and went out to the street. By this time the brawl was slowly waning away. Hodja approached the group of people to learn what the dispute was all about. Some men were still grappling, some watching, some about to leave and some others urging to end the quarrel. Before Hodja could understand what was going on, someone made use of the dark and the confusion, grabbed the Hodja's quilt and ran off with it. Just about then the fight eventually came to an end and people dispersed. Hodja went back home sans quilt.

`Effendi, what was the commotion all about?' asked his wife when Hodja entered the bedroom.

`I think it was about a quilt.' the Hodja answered. `The quilt gone, the fight done!'