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You are worth as much as people hope from you, not as much as you have given. Only fools count on gratitude. The Mullah felt it was time to take a Turkish bath. The chambers and washrooms of the old bath in Aksehir were swarming with merry people glad to escape the sandy heat of the simoom, the poison wind of the summer. As his garment was poor and his face shy, Nasrudin was given a soiled towel, a tiny piece of scorched soap and, of course, no attention. Well, at least they let him in. On his way out, he did not forget to leave a rich tip - a gold coin. The following week when he went to the bath our Hoca was treated like a pasha: big soft towels, precious soap at the soaking pools, massage with perfumed oil in the half-light of the rest room. On his way out, he threw a small copper coin to the waiters. "Why master? Didn't you like the service? Last time you gave us gold." "Ah, but the gold was for this time, my good man. The copper is for the last time."

(c) Copyright 1998-2004 Ioan Tenner