| Mullah Nasruddin returned home grinning foolishly on a festival holiday and his wife wondered aloud about what was so funny. Mullah revealed that he had bought a fine leg of lamb from the market. On his way home he encountered a friend who wrote a special mutton recipe. Mullah was happily looking forward to a delicious meal as he walked back home with the lamb piece in one hand and the recipe in the other. As ill luck would have it, a crow had spied the meat. Swooping down with a raucous cry, the crow stole the meat from Nasruddin's hand and flew off with it towards a cluster of trees. "You fool," cried his wife, "what's so funny about the crow stealing the meat that we could have cooked on this festival ?" "You don't understand begum!" Mullah continued grinning from ear to ear. "The stupid crow may have stolen our meat! But what's it going to do with raw meat ? It forgot to steal the recipe from my other hand, which is still with me!" |