Missive #703 Published 1 May 2026
“You complain like this every day,” one of the men said to Nasruddin. “You should tell your wife to make you something different for lunch.”
“I’m not married,” said Nasruddin.
“Who makes your lunch then?”
“I do,” Nasruddin admitted, staring sadly at his bread and cheese.
Missive #700 Published 24 April 2026
136. Nasruddin and the Baklava
Nasruddin was a holy man’s disciple.
Another disciple brought their master a plate of baklava, and he didn’t want Nasruddin to eat any.
“This is from our master’s enemies,” he told Nasruddin. “I suspect it’s poisoned, so don’t touch it!”
The disciple left, and Nasruddin couldn’t resist. He grabbed the baklava, but he dropped the plate. Crash!
The other disciple rushed in to see what had happened and found Nasruddin down on all fours, eating baklava.
“I dropped the plate!” Nasruddin confessed. “In my shame, I wanted to die, so I’m eating as much of the poison as I can.”
Missive #695 Published 17 April 2026
135. Nasruddin and the Box
Nasruddin’s friend gave him a box for safekeeping. “I’ll be back to collect it tomorrow or the day after. But whatever you do, don’t look in the box!”
“I understand,” said Nasruddin. “Don’t worry.”
“Thank you!” said Nasruddin’s friend, and he left.
Of course Nasruddin immediately opened the box. There was baklava inside!
He ate one piece.
Then another.
And another.
Finally he had eaten it all.
When his friend returned for the box, he opened it and saw it was empty.
“What happened to the baklava?” he asked.
“Don’t ask,” Nasruddin replied, “and I won’t have to tell you.”
Missive #690 Published 10 April 2026
134. Where’s the Halvah?
Nasruddin went to the grocer.
“I want some halvah, please,” he said.
“My apologies,” said the grocer. “I don’t have any halvah.”
“That’s impossible!” exclaimed Nasruddin. “How can a grocer not have halvah? I simply don’t understand. Tell me: do you have any flour?”
“Yes,” said the grocer.
“And what about sugar? Do you have any sugar?”
“Yes,” said the grocer.
“And do you have butter? Surely you have butter!”
“Yes,” said the grocer.
“So, isn’t it obvious? Everything you need is here!” Nasruddin concluded. “If you have flour and sugar and butter, why don’t you go make some halvah?”
Missive #687 Published 3 April 2026
133. Nasruddin Eats an Apple
Nasruddin walked by the grocer’s stall in the market. He was feeling very hungry, but he didn’t have any money.
As he looked at the heap of apples on display, Nasruddin could not resist. He reached out, grabbed one of the apples, and bit into it. “Delicious!” he exclaimed.
“Hey there!” shouted the grocer. “You can’t do that!”
“What do you mean?” asked Nasruddin.
“I mean you can’t eat that apple without paying for it,” shouted the grocer. “It’s not ethical!”
“Oh, that’s not a problem!” Nasruddin replied happily. “I’m eating this apple because it’s nutritional, not because it’s ethical.”
Missive #683 Published 27 March 2026
132. Nasruddin Eats the Walnuts and the Shells
Nasruddin was eating some walnuts, shells and all.
“What on earth are you doing?” asked his wife, surprised. “Why don’t you crack the shell and take the nut out before you eat them?”
“Well,” said Nasruddin. “I already know there’s a walnut in there, so I don’t need to crack the shells in order to find that out.”
He then ate another walnut in the shell
“Plus, when I paid for these, I paid by the pound, shells and all. If I throw away the shells, that’s like throwing away money!” Nasruddin explained. “This way, I’m getting my money’s worth.”
Missive #680 Published 20 March 2026
131. Nasruddin’s Views on Cheese
“Bring me some cheese,” Nasruddin said to his wife. “Cheese is healthy, and it’s tasty too. They say it’s good for your bones. I like cheese very much.”
“I don’t think we have any cheese,” Nasruddin’s wife replied apologetically.
“Just as well I suppose,” said Nasruddin. “They say cheese is hard on the stomach and it always gives me gas. I really don’t like cheese at all.”
“I don’t understand,” said Nasruddin’s wife, now very confused. “Do you like cheese, or do you not like it?”
“That depends on whether there’s any cheese in the house or not,” replied Nasruddin.
Missive #675 Published 13 March 2026
130. Nasruddin is Tired
“Go to the market and buy some meat for tonight’s stew!” said Nasruddin’s wife.
“I’m tired,” he complained, but he went to the market.
Later on she said, “Bring in some firewood!”
“I’m tired,” he groaned, but he brought in the firewood.
Next she told him, “Fetch some water!”
“Didn’t you hear me say I was tired?” he moaned, but he brought the water.
“Come eat dinner!” she said.
“I can see there’s no point in telling you how tired I am,” Nasruddin sighed, and then he raced to the dinner table so fast he almost tripped over his robes.
Missive #672 Published 6 March 2026
129. Nasruddin and the Recipe
Nasruddin’s wife had written out the recipe for Nasruddin’s favorite liver-and onion dish and then she sent him to the market.
“Buy all the ingredients,” she said, “and make sure the liver is fresh.”
Walking home, Nasruddin was daydreaming about the fine dinner he would enjoy when out of nowhere a crow swooped down and attacked him. As Nasruddin defended himself, the crow snatched the liver and flew away with it.
“You accursed creature!” Nasruddin shouted as the crow flew away. “But the joke’s on you: you forgot the recipe. You don’t have any idea how to prepare the dish!”
Missive #668 Published 27 February 2026
128. Nasruddin and the Ducks
Nasruddin was walking home from the bakery with some fresh bread, and then he saw them: ducks! Several very beautiful, very fat ducks were swimming in the pond by the side of the road.
Nasruddin ran at top speed into the pond, hoping to catch one of them, but the ducks all flew away.
Nasruddin then began to eat the bread, pulling off pieces and ostentatiously dipping each piece in the water before he ate it.
A man walking along the road shouted, “Hey, Nasruddin, what are you doing there in the pond?”
“I’m eating duck soup!” he replied happily.