151 Mulla Nasruddin’s Tales

Mulla Nasruddin and a friend bought some ingredients to cook meat, rice and vegetables. “You make the rice and I’ll cook the vegetables,” said the friend. “But I have no clue how to make rice,” said Mulla. “Fine! Just slice the vegetables and I’ll take care of the rice,” said the friend. “I don’t know […]

One day, a barber was trimming the mayor’s beard. After he had finished, he remarked, “Your beard is starting to turn grey, sir!” The mayor was angry and ordered that the barber be put in jail for one year. He then turned to a court attendant and asked, “Do you see any grey hair in

One day, Mulla Nasruddin sneaked into someone’s garden and began to steal vegetables. As he was putting them in his sack, the owner of the garden saw him. The man was furious and shouted, “Who are you and what are you doing in my garden?” “The wind blew me here, sir!” Mulla confidently responded to

Mulla Nasruddin’s wife once told her friends, “My husband always acts like he knows everything.” As she and her friends chatted, Mulla walked in and asked, “What are you talking about?” “About bread baking,” said his wife. “Then it is fitting that I entered the discussion. After all, I am one of the world’s greatest

Mulla Nasruddin moved to a new town and took up a job to pick peaches off trees in an orchard for fifty Thankas a day. However, when he went to collect his pay, the orchard owner said, “I don’t have any money. Come back tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll let you eat as many peaches as

One day, Mulla Nasruddin was walking down the street. Out of nowhere, a man slapped him! The man ran on. As he looked back, he realised that he had mistakenly slapped the wrong man. So, he immediately apologised. Mulla, however, took the man to court. After explaining his case, the judge ordered, “I hereby order

Mulla Nasruddin, famished from a day’s work, came back home and began stuffing food into his mouth using both of his hands, simultaneously. “Why are you eating with two hands?” his wife asked. “Because I don’t have three hands,” he replied, which made her laugh. Both Mulla and his wife were competitive and often played

Once, a group of soldiers stood in the town square bragging about their accomplishments in a recent battle. “We defeated them,” said one of the men, “We were invincible. I myself killed about a dozen of their best men.” “And I,” added another, “caught an arrow that was headed towards me, threw it back at

One day, Mulla Nasruddin was called in the court for stealing a watermelon. The judge exclaimed, “You will get a fine for your mistake.” “But you can just use this against all the credits I have accumulated for the times I didn’t steal anything,” said Mulla, making everyone laugh loudly. The mayor, who was also

One day, Mulla Nasruddin lost his bag and declared in the town square, “My bag is lost! If you all don’t find it, you’ll find out what happened the last time my bag got lost!” The villagers frantically began searching for the bag. Minutes later, a man found it and presented it to Mulla. Out

One night, Mulla Nasruddin’s wife woke him up and said, “I have to go and check the baby. Can you give me the candle that I left on your left side?” Mulla replied, “How do you expect me to distinguish my left from my right in the dark!” Mulla’s wife took the candle herself in

Once, cherries were being sold at cheap prices in Mulla Nasruddin’s town. As Mulla was a good negotiator, his friend asked him to buy some cherries much below the already low market price. Mulla haggled with the merchant for over fifteen minutes, and was able to buy them at a very low price. He then

Mulla Nasruddin was listening to a group of people in the midst of a scholarly discussion. A man remarked, “People complain of cold in winter and of heat in summer. Is there nothing that can satisfy people?” “What about autumn and spring?” asked Mulla, making everyone laugh. Another man asked, “Mulla, when is a good

One morning, Mulla Nasruddin was inspecting the ground outside his door. A neighbour called out, “Mulla, what are you looking for?” “I dropped a ring,” Mulla replied. “Oh,” the neighbour replied as he also began searching. “Where were you standing when you dropped it?” “In my bedroom,” Mulla replied. “Then why are you searching for

Once, a religious leader invited Mulla Nasruddin to dinner. Mulla did not eat much that day. Thus, at the dinner, he was famished and eager to eat. Mulla’s friend who was at the dinner, too, asked him, “Mulla, how does one become wise?” “Listen attentively to wise people. And when someone is listening to you,