One day Nasreddin’s donkey was
ill, so he borrowed a horse from an officer. It was a big, strong animal, and
usually nobody rode it except the officer. It tried to throw Nasreddin off, but
he stayed on it. Then it suddenly began to run away with him. He tried to turn
it towards his house, and he tried to stop it, but it continued to run the
opposite way.
One of Nasreddin’s friends was
working in his field and saw him riding very fast towards this friend’s house.
He thought, ‘Why
is Nasreddin riding so fast? Perhaps he has some bad news. Perhaps he is riding
to my house to give me some bad news !’
He was frightened and shouted to
Nasreddin, ‘Nasreddin!
Nasreddin! What is the matter ? Where are you going ?’
‘I
don’t know !’ Nasreddin
shouted back. ‘This
stupid animal hasn’t told me !’