151 Mulla Nasruddin’s Tales

Once, Mulla Nasruddin had bought a small field. But he and his wife argued over who would plant the wheat crop. They decided to have a bet. Whoever spoke first would have to plant the wheat. Mulla’s wife went out to buy wheat. As Mulla waited at home, a thief broke in, and stole everything […]

One day, the mayor wrote a poem and read it out to Mulla Nasruddin. Once he concluded it, he asked, “Did you like the poem?” “No,” Mulla replied, “it wasn’t very good.” The mayor was angry, and he sentenced Mulla to three days in jail. The next week, the mayor called Mulla in his office

One day, Mulla Nasruddin was repairing his roof, and was interrupted by a stranger. “What do you want?” Mulla shouted at him from the roof. “Come down, so I can tell you,” the stranger replied. Mulla angrily climbed down the ladder. “Can you spare me some money?” asked the stranger. Mulla started climbing up the

One day Mulla Nasruddin was presiding over a case as a Judge. An inn owner went first and exclaimed, “This man refuses to pay the bill!” “I would have,” the man shouted, “but he charged me two hundred dollars for three hard-boiled eggs!” “Is this true?” Mulla asked the inn owner. “Well,” he replied, “as

Once, Mulla Nasruddin’s friend told him, “You should get up early in the morning.” “Why?” asked Mulla. “As they say, ‘the early bird gets the worm’. Don’t you know that!” said his friend. “I still don’t know if getting up early has any merit to me. After all, I am not hunting for worms,” said

One day, Mulla Nasruddin was standing in the street when a donkey came behind him and kicked, sending him flying in the air and hitting the ground. After a week, Mulla went to a local doctor and said, “Every night for the past week, I have been having dreams in which I have wrestling matches

Once, Mulla Nasruddin loaded a barrel of cherries on his donkey, and went off to the bazaar to sell them. On his way, a group of children saw him. They were excited to see all the cherries he was carrying. They began dancing and singing in anticipation of eating cherries. “Mulla uncle,” they said, “Please

Mulla Nasruddin was returning from a neighbouring town when a man asked him, “What three times two was.” “Four,” Mulla replied. “You are wrong,” the man said, “The answer is six.” “Actually,” explained Mulla, “I am not wrong. We use different type of Maths where I am from.” Saying this, he left for his home

One night, Mulla Nasruddin woke up and called out, “O dear! Please get up! I have just been divinely inspired! Get me a pencil and piece of paper at once!” His wife lit a candle, brought the pencil and paper, and handed it to Mulla. He wrote something fast and was about to put out

Mulla Nasruddin often sat at the town square in the evenings, talking to people. One day, the topic of conversation turned to how they had changed since they were younger. “Not only am I wiser now, I’m as strong as I was in my youth,” Mulla said, “I couldn’t lift a big rock outside my

Late one night, Mulla Nasruddin and his wife were awakened from their sleep. The sounds of two men arguing loudly in the street had disturbed them. “I am going to go and find out what they are fighting about,” Mulla told his wife. “Just go back to sleep,” his wife said, “This has nothing to

One day, Mulla Nasruddin and some local people chatted. Soon, a bragging contest started among the group. One by one, they spoke of many amazing feats they had accomplished, each tale seeming more unreal than the last. Finally, after hearing everyone else, Mulla stood up and said, “A long time ago, all the men in

One night, Mulla Nasruddin heard a knock at his door. He opened the door and saw a stranger standing outside. The stranger said, “Mulla Nasruddin, can you help a brother out by offering shelter for the night? You see, I am God’s nephew.” “Oh, is that so?” said Mulla. “It surely is,” the stranger replied.

One day, Mulla Nasruddin was chatting with some people. One of them was a philosopher. He said, “I have been researching for years, trying to determine when the end of the world will be. Yet I have still not found the answer. Mulla, do you know when the end of the world will be?” “Yes,

Mulla Nasruddin had many enemies. One day, Mulla noticed one of them stealing his donkey, which was tied outside a store. Seconds later, Mulla caught the man in the act. “You scoundrel! By the grace of God, I put a curse on you that in one week, you will badly injure your leg,” he said.