Smaller Fish

Once a renowned philosopher and moralist was traveling through Mulla Nasrudin's village when he asked him where there was a good place to eat. He suggested a place and the scholar, hungry for conversation, invited Nasrudin to join him. Much obliged, Nasrudin accompanied the scholar to a nearby restaurant, where they asked the waiter about the special of the day. "Fish! Fresh Fish!" replied the waiter.

"Bring us two," they answered. A few minutes later, the waiter brought out a large platter with two cooked fish on it, one of which was a bit smaller than the other.

Without hesitating, Nasrudin tooked the larger of the fish and put in on his plate. The scholar, giving Nasrudin a look of intense disbelief, proceed to tell him that what he did was not only blatantly selfish, but that it violated the principles of almost every known moral, religious, and ethical system.

Nasrudin calmly listened to the philosopher's extempore lecture patiently, and when he had finally exhausted his resources, Nasrudin said, "Well, Sir, what would you have done?" "I, being a conscientious human, would have taken the smaller fish for myself."

"And here you are," Nasrudin said, and placed the smaller fish on the gentleman's plate.

More Useful

One day Mullah Nasrudin entered his favorite teahouse and said: 'The moon is more useful than the sun'.

An old man asked 'Why Mulla?'

Nasrudin replied 'We need the light more during the night than during the day.'

Running Bedouins

"When I was in the desert," said Mulla Nasrudin one day, "I caused an entire tribe of horrible and bloodthirsty bedouins to run."

"However did you do it?"

"Easy. I just ran, and they ran after me."

Honorable or Dishonorable

Mulla Nasrudin had been calling on his girlfriend for over a year.

One evening the girl's father stopped him as he was leaving and asked, "Look here, young man, you have been seeing my daughter for a year now, and I would like to know whether your intentions are honorable or dishonorable?"

Nasrudin's face lit up. "Do you mean to say, Sir," he said, "That I have a choice?"

Never Ask Why

"You don't love me any more," said Mulla Nasrudin's wife through her tears. "When you see me crying, you never ask why."

"I am sorry, Darling," said Nasrudin, "But that sort of question has already cost me an awful lot of money.”

Happiest Days

Mulla Nasrudin came up and shook hands with the future bridegroom. "Congratulations, friend," he said, "on this, one of the happiest days of your life."

"But I am not getting married until tomorrow," said the future bridegroom. "I Know," said the Mulla. "That’s what makes this one of the happiest days."

More Sense Asleep

The young lady's hopes had been high for two years while Mulla Nasrudin remained silent on the question of marriage.

Then one evening he said to her, "I had a most unusual dream last night. I dreamed that I asked to marry you. I wonder what that means."

"That means," said his girlfriend, "That you have more sense asleep than you are awake."