Teaching a Donkey to Read
Once upon a time, at the edge of an old forest where cool waters flowed, there lived a majestic but equally arrogant ruler. In the palace stables with their silver gates stood a proud donkey with jet-black fur that the ruler cherished more than anything. As a token of his wealth, the ruler had set his mind on teaching this creature to read, and had sent word throughout the land. Many wise men invited to the palace withdrew in helplessness when they heard of this impossible task. Then a poor but quick-witted villager named Nasreddin, known for his cleverness, decided to appear before him. The ruler looked at this self-assured man with suspicious eyes and harshly listed his conditions. "If you cannot teach this animal to read within three years, know well that you will lose your head," he said.
The clever villager, without losing his composure, replied, "My sultan, your wish is my command, but this work requires patience and generous bounty." Having obtained from the ruler a purse of gold each month and a full three years of time, he took the donkey along and returned home. The villager began to scatter tasty barley grains among the leaves of a large book. The donkey, turning the pages with its tongue and eating the barley, would grow hungry and begin to bray when the leaves came out empty. Weeks later the people of the palace gathered at the clever villager's humble house to watch this strange training with curiosity. The donkey took its place before the book, turned the pages one by one with its tongue, and when it found no barley it began to bray loudly. Smiling proudly, the villager said, "You see, my sultan, he reads the leaves of the alphabet and pronounces the vowels."
The ruler broke in with astonishment and asked, "But how will this animal understand the meaning of the words?" The clever man smiled wisely and gave that historic explanation which astounded the dignitaries of the palace. "My padishah, I can teach the donkey only this much; besides, three years is a long time," he said. "In that span either I shall die, or the donkey shall die, or you shall pass away!" he added. Laughing out loud at this sharp wit and witty logic, the ruler pardoned the villager. In the face of impossible demands, taking refuge in the power of reason and time is the greatest wisdom. Even with a golden saddle, a donkey is still a donkey.