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Wisdom is a treasury that grows as you give it away. This is wonderful, but giving it away does not make you rich. Folks even believe they do you a favour when they accept your advice (remember that people appreciate what they pay for). Therefore, the wiser the Mullah grew, the less food there was on his table. The more he taught the less he got. Something had to be done to make both ends meet. Nasrudin thought that he could at least teach his donkey to eat less. So he would spare some money. Everyday he would give the animal a little less barley. The donkey did not seem to mind, on the contrary its temper improved, he became tame and slower, careful to keep on the road. Seeing such good behaviour, Nasrudin went on with the diet until the donkey only had a handful of fodder and some water for the day. The neighbours were impressed. One morning the Hodja looked into the stable and run to see his neighbour, lamenting: "Misfortune! Everything was going so well and now, just when I taught him not to eat at all, the donkey died."

(c) Copyright 1998-2004 Ioan Tenner