Nasruddin and the Sugar

A mother brought her son to see Nasruddin. "My son eats too much sugar," she said. "Please make him stop!"
Nasruddin patted the boy on the head and said, "Come back in two weeks and we'll see what we can do."
The mother promised to return in two weeks.
At their next meeting, Nasruddin looked at the boy and said sternly, "You must stop eating sugar!"
"Why did we have to wait two weeks for you to say that?" asked the mother.
"I had to make myself stop eating sugar," replied Nasruddin, "before telling someone else to do the same."

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Inspired by: Mulla's Donkey and Other Friends by Mehdi Nakosteen, p. 83.
Notes: This story also appears in The Sufis by Idries Shah, free to read online at the Idries Shah Foundation.

I included this book in Tiny Tales of Nasruddin.