One day Khoja roasted a goose and brought it to the sovereign. On the way, he got hungry and in a secluded place he lowered one goose’s foot into his belly. Presenting himself before the padishah, he presented him, observing the ceremonies, with a gift. It struck Timur that the goose was missing one leg, and he asked the Khoja about it.
“In Akshekhir, all the geese are one-legged,” remarked the Khoja. - And if you don’t believe me, look at the geese at the source.
Indeed, at that time the geese, basking in the sun at the source, stood on one leg and, with their heads down, dozed. Looking out of the window, the padishah looked at these geese for a long time.
At this time the dawn began to play. The musicians beat the drums with mallets at once, the sky groaned from the roar of the trumpets, and the geese, standing on both legs, began to fearfully rush from side to side, just to run away somewhere. Timur called the Hodja to the window and said:
- Khoja, you are not telling the truth; look: geese have two legs.
“Well, if you tasted these sticks,” the Khoja remarked, “you would crawl on all fours.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru