~ 182. Nasruddin the Philosopher ~
A philosopher from a distant land came to Tamerlane's court. "I wish to challenge your philosopher!" he said.
"Nasruddin is my philosopher," replied Tamerlane, and he summoned Nasruddin.
"I will ask you a question," said the foreign philosopher.
"Ask me anything," replied Nasruddin.
"What is the number of stars in the sky?"
Nasruddin smiled. "That's an easy one! The number of stars in the sky is exactly equal to the number of the hairs in my donkey's tail."
"Absurd!" replied the foreign philosopher. "How can you prove it?"
"If you don't believe me," Nasruddin replied, "you can count them yourself."
Inspired by: Nasreddin Hodja compiled by Alpay Kabacali.
Notes: This story is on p. 25 of the book. Kabacali's version does not have Tamerlane, but I've read other versions about contests in Tamerlane's court so I used that here. Kabacali's version includes a "center of the universe" challenge, which I already told as a separate story: The Center of the Universe.
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