Mulla Nasruddin was sleeping in a guest-house when he overheard a man narrating, “Once a district officer sent his elephant to a village and ordered the villagers to take care of him. The elephant ate fifty bundles of grass, ten sacks of barley and ten sacks of corn. The crops in the village were barren in fifteen days. In desperation, the villagers sent Mulla to the district officer. He said to the officer, ‘We have been serving the elephant with all we have. But he is feeling lonely. If you arrange another elephant to give him company, he’ll be very happy.’ When the officer agreed, Mulla kissed his feet so hard that its shoe polish blackened his lips.” Hearing this, Mulla got up and shouted, “How can you weave such a false tale? Traders, banish this liar from here!” Actually, the man was the Amir’s spy, looking for Mulla. When he called for the guards, Mulla ran out of the guest-house.
Mulla and the Spy
