Once upon a time Nasreddin was walking with his
two friends from Basra to Samarkand, taking one of them to marry his bride, who had
been waiting for him for many months.
They came upon a dead tiger. The smell rising from the
carcass was overwhelming. Closing their noses, Nasreddin's friends hurried on.
Yet, Nasreddin stopped, sat down by the tiger, and started stripping off its
skin, that was not yet affected by decomposition. As much as the friends
complained, he would not give up. "The gifts of Allah are not to be
rejected", - he said. "This 'gift' stinks!" – cried his friends.
But Nasreddin did not stop, until he had the whole skin peeled off and washed
in a nearby stream. Wrapping it in a bit of rope, he ran to catch up with his friends.
Walking on, one of Nasreddin's friends tripped up over
a stick and fell down, ripping his clothes and bruising his knees. "Stupid
stick!" – screamed the friend, and stated kicking it vigorously. However,
Nasreddin picked up the stick, and used it to carry the tiger skin. "The gifts
of Allah are not to be rejected", - he repeated. "How is this a gift?
It hurts!" – the friend demanded, pointing at his bleeding knee. Nasreddin
chuckled into his moustache, and replied: "You'll see".
Soon, the friends came upon a yelping dog, stuck in a
trap. The dog was baring its teeth and threatening to bite. Its fur was matted,
its eyes were dull. It looked very thin and weak. Nasreddin bent down to
release the dog from the trap. "Now what?" - Demanded the friends. –
"Another gift of Allah? It's going to be dead before you are done!"
Nasreddin was working hard to free the dog, so he could not reply. Then he gave
the dog some water and some food, and as it was drinking, he repeated, "Indeed,
the gifts of Allah are not to be rejected."
The dog ran happily and obediently after the three
friends for the rest of the day.
Soon, the three friends had to stop for the night. It was
getting cold, and there was a cold drizzle getting into their faces and
behind the collars of their shirts. One of the friends complained that they
were going to sleep hungry. Nasreddin stuck the long stick in the ground, and
spread the tiger skin over their heads. Just then, the thankful dog showed up
with a rabbit in its teeth. After a delicious supper, the three friends praised
Allah for His gifts, and Nasreddin for his wisdom. They slept happy and warm, as the dog guarded
their sleep.
In the morning they came to a border. The army men of
the Sultan barred their entrance. "Oh, poor me, I will never be reunited
with my bride!" – wept the friend. "Don't worry!" – Nasreddin reassured
him, and went to talk to the soldiers. Very soon, he came back – without the
tiger skin. The smiling soldiers bowed down to them and showed them the way,
thanking Nasreddin profusely for the expensive gift. "You were right",
- said the other friend. – "indeed, those things were all gifts from
Allah, even though we did not realize it at the time. But what will you do
without the tiger skin now?"
"It's much easier to walk without it", laughed Nasreddin. - "Allah will always send more gifts at the right time, you just have
to receive them," – he added, lifting the stick to point at Heaven.
