Nasruddin in the Rose Garden

As Nasruddin was walking home one day, he decided to take the long way through a rose garden instead of the usual road. The roses were all in bloom, and the scent was heavenly.
But as Nasruddin strolled through the garden, he slipped in the mud and crashed into some rose bushes. He was badly bruised and bleeding from where the thorns had scratched him, plus he was covered with mud.
Even so, Nasruddin was not distressed. "If misfortune can befall me in this lovely rose garden," he thought, "just imagine the disasters that awaited me on the open road!"

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Inspired by: Mulla's Donkey and Other Friends by Mehdi Nakosteen, p. 40. The story also appears in The Sufis by Idries Shah, free to read online at the Idries Shah Foundation.
Notes: In some versions of this story, Nasruddin wanders through the woods instead, but I like the idea of disaster befalling him in a rose garden.

I included this book in Tiny Tales of Nasruddin.