The Scholar and his Beard

A scholar was studying by lamplight late into the night. In one of his books he read: "Men with long beards are fools."

The scholar's beard was quite long. "Alas!" he sighed. "Is it really true? Are men with long beards fools?"

Then he glanced at the lamp and thought to himself, "I just need to burn off my beard!" 

So he held his beard over the flame. It caught fire immediately. Then the fire burned his mustache! His eyebrows! All the hair on his head!

Thus he discovered that what he had read in the book was indeed true.

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Inspired by: "A Qazi with a Long Beard" in Folktales from India by A. K. Ramanujan, 1991
Notes: You can read about the Marathi people of western India at Wikipedia.

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