Old Moons

One day Nasreddin Hodja and a friend were admiring the sky and watching a new moon.

`Hodja Effendi,' asked the friend, what do they do with the old moons?'

`They cut them, trim them and turn them into stars!'

Cost of Feeding the Donkey

Cost of Feeding the Donkey

Nasreddin Hodja got poorer and poorer. He even had to economize on the donkey feed. He started to cut the amount of oat he gave to his donkey. After a few days, he noticed no big changes in the donkey, so he continued with his reduction program. Everyday he was giving a little less food to the animal. The donkey was getting skinnier and skinnier, but so was the Hodja. These were tough times. Thus the hodja carried on, and the donkey had to subsist on smaller portions of feed each day. One morning, however, when the Hodja entered the barn, he found his donkey dead.

`Ahh, ahh, my poor donkey!' the Hodja wailed, `Just as he was getting used to hunger!'

Down the Stairs

~ Down the Stairs ~

`Hodja Effendi, last night I was passing by your house and I heard a lot of commotion. What was all that racket?'

`Nothing serious. My wife threw my coat down the stairs.'

`Hodja Effendi, how could a coat falling down the stairs make that much noise?'

`At the time, I happened to be in it!'

Playing the Saz

~ Playing the Saz ~

At a gathering in the coffee house, they asked Nasreddin Hodja if he knew how to play the saz. Our Hodja, never one to disappoint his friends, said that he did. So, they gave him a saz and asked him to play. Nasreddin Hodja took the saz, placed it on his lap, then picked one string and started to play that string. He was not moving his fingers up and down, left or right; he was constantly plucking the same string, at the same spot.

`Hodja Effendi, what kind of music is this?', protested the patrons of the coffee house, `The real saz players move their fingers about, play different strings. You held on to one string and you are not letting it go!'

`They are moving their fingers about because they are all looking for this very spot,' was the Hodja's explanation, `I found it in my first attempt, why should I let it go?'