Nasrudin and the donkey Dilemma

One sunny afternoon, Nasrudin was sitting outside his modest house, sipping tea and counting the ants that marched across his doorstep. Just then, his old friend Jalal came huffing and puffing down the road, dragging a long rope with no end in sight.

"Peace be upon you, Nasrudin!" Jalal greeted, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"And upon you too!" Nasrudin smiled. "But peace seems to have fled from your face. What’s troubling you?"

“I lost my donkey!” Jalal wailed. “I tied it to this rope last night, and now… now there’s just rope! No donkey!”

Nasrudin squinted at the rope, then looked up dramatically at the sky. “Ah, yes. A clear case of invisible donkey syndrome.”

“Invisible donkey syndrome?” Jalal blinked.

Nasrudin nodded gravely. “Very rare, very mysterious. Only strikes donkeys who feel underappreciated.”

Jalal stared at him. “Nasrudin, this is no time for jokes! My donkey is gone!”

“Well,” Nasrudin said, standing up and brushing off his robe, “have you tried calling him?”

Jalal frowned. “Calling him? Like a cat?”

“Exactly! Just yell ‘Come back, noble steed!’ It works better if you sound emotional.”

Jalal took a deep breath and yelled into the open air, “COME BACK, NOBLE STEED!”

Nothing happened. Except for a distant cow mooing sarcastically.

“Hm,” Nasrudin said, stroking his beard. “Perhaps we must search more cleverly. Where did you last see the donkey?”

“Tied to the tree behind my house!”

Nasrudin placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Then we must begin our search exactly not there. Donkeys are clever. They always go where you're not looking.”

And so began the Great Donkey Search.

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Scene 1: The Bakery

They entered the village bakery. The baker raised an eyebrow. “Looking for a donkey in a bakery?”

“Of course,” Nasrudin replied. “Donkeys love fresh bread. Just yesterday, I saw one admiring a croissant.”

“No you didn’t,” Jalal muttered.

“Shhh,” Nasrudin whispered. “The bread might be listening.”

After sniffing a few buns and interrogating a confused loaf of rye, they left the bakery—empty-handed, but very full from samples.

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Scene 2: The Barber’s Shop

“Perhaps,” Nasrudin said thoughtfully, “your donkey wanted a new look. You know, something more... stylish.”

Inside the barber's, they examined every customer suspiciously.

“What if the donkey disguised himself as a human?” Nasrudin whispered.

“Nasrudin, donkeys can’t do that!”

“Can you prove that?” Nasrudin challenged.

Jalal glanced at a particularly hairy man in the corner. “That one does look suspicious…”

The barber threw them out before Nasrudin could offer to shave a customer “just to check.”

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Scene 3: The Mayor’s Office

“We’d like to report a missing donkey,” Jalal said.

The mayor sighed. “Describe him.”

“Well,” Jalal said, “he’s brown. Four legs. Big ears. Goes ‘hee-haw’.”

“That’s every donkey ever!” the mayor snapped.

Nasrudin jumped in, “Ah, but this donkey also knows the difference between good hay and mediocre hay. He once sneezed at stale straw!”

“Get out,” the mayor said.

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Scene 4: Back at Jalal’s House

Hours later, sun setting, they dragged themselves back to Jalal’s house.

“Well,” Nasrudin said, flopping onto a crate, “we didn’t find the donkey, but we did discover a delightful new bread at the bakery, an excellent mustache style, and that the mayor has no sense of humor.”

Jalal groaned. “I’m ruined! That donkey was everything! My transportation! My companion! My—wait… WHAT IS THAT?!”

From behind the tree where Jalal had first tied the donkey… came a very familiar hee-haw.

There stood the donkey. Exactly where Jalal had left him.

“But—but—I looked there this morning!” Jalal exclaimed.

Nasrudin calmly walked up to the donkey, patted its head, and said, “See? I told you. Donkeys are clever. He knew you’d come back the moment you gave up.”

Jalal stared at him. “Nasrudin, you… are ridiculous.”

“And yet,” Nasrudin said with a wink, “I’m the one who found your donkey.”

Jalal groaned again, this time smiling. “Come on. Let’s go get more of that new bread.”

As they walked off, the donkey watched them for a moment, then casually untied itself from the tree and trotted after them.

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Moral of the Story:

When things go missing, look everywhere—but don’t forget to check behind the tree.