Nasruddin had a terrible toothache. It had been hurting for days, getting worse every day. It hurt when he lay down; it hurt when he was standing up. He tried putting warm compresses on it, but that did not help. Warm salt water did not help either.
Nasruddin's wife felt sorry for him at first, but she eventually lost her patience. "If that were my tooth," she finally told him, "I would go have it removed."
"If it were your tooth, I'd have it removed too!" Nasruddin shouted back at her. "The problem is that it's my tooth, not yours."
Inspired by: Mulla's Donkey and Other Friends by Mehdi Nakosteen
Notes: This story is on p. 139 of the book. Nakosteen's story is about one of Nasruddin's friends, but I changed it to be about his wife. There's another story where Nasruddin gets his tooth removed, and then a friend of him complains about a headache. By way of advice, Nasruddin says, "When I had a toothache, I got my tooth removed!"
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