Aldar Kose and the Stingy Bey

On the Kazakh steppe there lived a young man called Aldar Kose. He did not have a single hair on his face, and he was full of jokes and quick answers. He owned no property at all, but thanks to his wits and his tongue he was always on the side of the poor.

One winter's day Aldar Kose was riding across the steppe in an old coat full of holes. There were so many holes in his coat that the wind blew in through one and out through another. On the way he met a bey. The bey was very rich but very stingy; he wore a thick, warm fox-fur coat, and still he was shivering with cold.

Aldar Kose, on the other hand, was whistling and singing. The bey was astonished: "How can you not be cold in this weather, in that coat full of holes?" Aldar Kose smiled: "Ah, Bey, you don't know the value of this coat. The cold comes in through one hole and goes straight out through another. It never stays inside! But in closed coats like yours, the cold gets in and can't get out. It stays trapped inside."

The bey thought for a moment, shivered, and believed it was really true. "Will you sell me your coat?" "I can't, Bey. It's my most precious possession." The bey begged: "I'll give you my coat, and a horse as well!" Aldar Kose made a bit of a fuss, then said, "Well, if you want it that much."

The bey put on the coat full of holes and rode off. He had not gone far when the cold came in through a hole and never went out again. With his teeth chattering, the bey turned back home.

Aldar Kose put on the warm fox-fur coat and gave the extra horse to a poor family in the village. That evening in the tents, everyone told this story and laughed.

This tale tells us: stinginess makes a person believe anything. And wit is at its very best when it is used for sharing.