The Hodja and the Neighbor's Request
The neighbor asks for the donkey, the Hodja says "it's not here"; the donkey brays from the stable.
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One day a neighbor knocked on Nasreddin Hodja's door. "Hodja, will you lend me your donkey for a day? I'm going to the market."
The Hodja did not want to lend his donkey; the neighbor treated donkeys badly. "The donkey isn't at home," he said, "my son took it to fetch wood."
Just then a sound came from the stable: "Hee-haw! Hee-haw!"
The neighbor raised his eyebrows: "Hodja, you say the donkey isn't here, but it's braying in the stable!"
The Hodja pulled the door a little closer and said with a serious face: "Shame on you, neighbor! You don't believe my white beard, but you believe the word of a donkey?"
The neighbor did not know what to say and went home laughing. The donkey lay comfortably in the stable all day. The Hodja's wife said, "Hodja, you told a lie." The Hodja said, "Not a lie, I protected the donkey. Don't listen to what my donkey says; it tells a lie now and then too."
The tale ends here. Sleep well.
The Hodja and the Neighbor's Request is a children's tale from Nasreddin Hodja, suitable for ages 3-8 and about 1 minutes long. Read it free on Masal Merkezi, play a lullaby or nature sound in the background, tap any word to see its Turkish meaning and save it to your favorites. For similar tales browse the Nasreddin Hodja category.
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