Nasreddin Hoca Anecdotes
Whom do you trust?
One day a neighbour asked Nasreddin Hoca if he could borrow his donkey. “I would gladly lend you my donkey, my neighbour,” Hoca started his excuse, “but he is not here.” Just at that moment the donkey's loud and long bray is heard from the shed. “Shame on you, Hoca,” said the neighbour, “your donkey is braying in the shed.” “My dear fellow,” Hoca was unrepentant, “are you going to believe the word of a Hoca or are you going to believe a donkey?”
Recipe
One day Nasreddin Hoca and his friends were chatting in the coffee house. The topic was food. They were trading recipes, reminiscing how one dish was heavenly and yet another was so exquisite that it made you eat your fingers with it. All this talk of food was making everyone hungry. Finally when someone described how to make a superb lamb stew, Hoca asked him to write the recipe down on a piece of paper. His appetite whetted, the Hoca put the recipe in his coat pocket and headed for the butcher. Having bought a couple of kilos of fresh meat, Hoca started to walk towards home. In anticipation of a delicious dinner, the recipe in his coat pocket, Hoca was swinging the meat package from its string and whistling contentedly as he walked. Alas, misfortune was in the air. A large crow dived down, grabbed the meat and flew off. As the crow was ascending with the meat packet in his mouth, Hoca put his hands around his mouth and shouted: “Alright then, take the meat! But you won't be able to enjoy it. I have got the recipe!”
Center of the Earth
One idle day, the villagers were contemplating philosophical thoughts and deliberating the mysteries of the universe. Since they weren't getting anywhere with their reflections, they decided to solicit the wisdom of Nasreddin Hoca. “Hoca,”' they said, “you are a learned man, maybe you can shed a light on this puzzle. Where is the centre of the earth?” Nasreddin Hoca didn't skip a beat. “Right under the left front foot of my donkey.” he said. “Hoca,” protested the villagers, “that can't be right!” “If you don't believe me,” said Hoca, “measure it for yourself!”