Once, Mulla Nasruddin turned his home into a school and started teaching children. But his students often complained, ‘If I read books, people call me a bookworm.’ ‘If I eat less, they say I am sick.’ ‘If I eat well, they say I am a glutton.’ Mulla decided to teach them through an example. So, he said, “In today’s class, I will ride my donkey backwards and you will follow me.” Thus, a strange procession started. People followed them, teasing, “The big idiot is on the ass and small idiots are after him.” As his students were feeling embarrassed, Mulla said, “Children, now say ‘big idiot in front of us is an ass’. And I will say ‘Little idiots are after me’. See what happens.” When they started chanting these slogans, people went their own ways. Soon, none was following them. “Now you know that you shouldn’t be bothered by what others say,” said Mulla, as his students looked admiringly at him.
Big and Little Idiots
