Once a renowned philosopher and moralist was traveling through Nasruddin’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 Mullah Nasruddin to join him.
Much obliged, Mullah Nasruddin 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 quite a bit smaller than the other. Without hesitating, Mullah Nasruddin cooked the larger of the fish and put in on his plate. The scholar, giving Mullah Nasruddin 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.
Mullah Nasruddin calmly listened to the philosopher’s extempore lecture patiently, and when he had finally exhausted his resources, Mullah Nasruddin 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,” Mullah Nasruddin said, and placed the smaller fish on the gentleman’s plate.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Now that, is good. I will have to remember this!
Have a relaxing weekend everyone
Tim,
Some you win…
Paul
I agree with Tim – it is good and it is so logical.
Lynda,
But still a little disconcerting, no?
Paul
Well, I am totally bamboozled by this one. I will have to try using that trick and stand at the back the next time there is a rammy at the bar with people fighting to get the first round in
Have a great weekend everyone.
Simon,
A “rammy at the bar”? Please explain that to us less culturally educated folks!
Paul
Ah. Yes. A rammy is Glaswegian slang for a fight or a riot type of thing (but I was using the term metaphorically not literally.) I sometimes think that the number of alternative terms used by the Scots makes their version of English almost as different to the one south of the border as the difference between high German and the Swiss version.
that waz great. I am still chuckling. Enjoy the weekend.
Jo,
You are, obviously, easy to please.
Paul
Loved this one! Needed to chuckle this morning! Thanks Paul,
Everyone have a wonderful weekend.:)
Kathy
Kathy,
I love helping others to chuckle!
Paul
Miss Manners is one of my favorite writers. She warns her “gentle readers” time and time again that there is no good way to correct someone else’s manners, unless you are the offending child’s parent or teacher. Of her self and her colleagues, she says
“… people often assume that etiquette advisers run about society giving unsolicited instructions and perhaps issuing tickets to violators. Being themselves perfect, etiquette advisers would be the last to do any such dreadful thing.”
Happy weekend everyone. My kids are away, and I’m planning on spending a significant chink of mine curled up in a comfortable chair with “Lopez.”
Denise,
I just finished that book–it is really wonderful. It gave me a lift that I needed. Enjoy your quiet time!
Kathy
Denise,
It sounds like the most lovely way to celebrate a birthday.
Paul
If you replace “conscientious” with “religious”, you get a whole different take on this……..how many here have had the pleasure of spending time with pious people? The mullah is accomadating this man’s beliefs. “Put your money where your mouth is” or “ask and you shall receive”
Many folks give verbiage to their religious beliefs, their good acts, but, when Christ calls us to follow through, to take it the Cross, we’re most often surprised by that. I don’t know why, we just are. “Lord, I thought you were going to make this easy. I know I said I’d settle for the small fish, but ‘that’s not really what I *meant*.” People like this philosopher are very good at telling the rest of us how to live. “Easier said than done.”
Emma,
Welcome back! Having said that, I’m not entirely sure I understood your point…
Paul
Maybe I missed the point, but I laughed out loud.
At least no one is home to hear.
Have a good weekend, everyone
Carol,
It’s good to laugh out loud -alone or with others.
Paul
Just catching up on some of last weeks as I was away in France for a few days. This made me laugh; Thanks. Incidentally, having my brother round for dinner and it happens to be fish; a big piece of salmon so does this mean I will have to make sure I cut it equally 3 ways?? (haha)