On Friday, during Juma, a crowd of people gathered in the mosque. The mullah ascended to the dais and began to preach about worldly wisdom. He drew the topic for his sermon from the kitab. By the way, he said that by facial expression you can tell a person’s thoughts, and by certain signs you can tell whether he is smart or stupid. “Beware, true believers,” the mullah concluded, “of the red-bearded ones: they have little intelligence! But if the red-bearded man grows a long beard, longer than you can grab in your fist, he will certainly do something stupid!”
It so happened that a believer with a long red beard was present in the mosque. His heart trembled when he heard the mullah’s words. “Really,” he thought, “these words apply to me; Moreover, the mullah, while talking about the red-bearded people, seemed to be looking in my direction - as if he was pointing at me with words and gestures.”
He returned home with heavy thoughts: “Well, I’ll look in the mirror to see how long my beard is.” Looking in the mirror, he impatiently grabbed his beard, and - oh horror! — the long tufts of his red beard stick out between his fingers! “Away with her, away with her, otherwise they’ll really take me for a fool!” There were no scissors at hand: he rushed to the fireplace, wanting to burn the beard sticking out between his fingers. He burned his beard, but at the same time he scorched his entire face. “Oh, what a fool I am! - the unfortunate man shouted. “Is the mullah right?” This can't be true. I’ll walk around the world: I’ll probably find somewhere a red-bearded guy dumber than me!”
No sooner said than done. The red-bearded man trudged off wherever his eyes looked. In one village on the square he came across a red-bearded man and was very happy about him. “Let me,” he thought, “tell him about my adventure; What will he say to this?
He approached him, greeted him and began to tell him about how he, burning his beard, scorched his entire face. The stranger grinned and, as if in consolation, said to him:
“It was even better with me: I had a cow with curled horns.” I decided to somehow stick my head between the horns. The head got through - wow, I only pressed a little on the temples, but it’s impossible to pull it back out! No matter what I do, nothing helps: it doesn’t fit here or there! Finally the cow got scared; raised her tail and let me run around the village. I dangle helplessly; I scream in pain, as the cow’s head mercilessly throws me up, and to top off my frustration, whoever sees me roars with laughter. People stand in front of their houses and laugh. Finally they took pity on me: they caught the cow and began to pull me out of the clutches. But it doesn't work! I had to saw off the horns, and only then was I freed. What is this?
“It’s true,” answered our old friend, “your stupidity is purer than mine.” Let's go together now, won't we find a red-bearded guy somewhere stupider than both of us?
He agreed. Both fools trudge to the nearest trading place, consoled by the thought that they will probably find the one they are looking for. Arriving at the place, they opened their mouths in surprise: there were stone houses and rich shops everywhere! They are looking around, when suddenly - what happiness! On the porch, under the canopy, a red-bearded man walks and smokes a pipe. He is apparently very rich, but his face is disfigured: his nose seems flattened, and there is a scar on his cheek. “What’s wrong with him? - the travelers think. - Apparently, this is due to stupidity! Let's tell him about our failures! What will he say to this?
They approached the rich stranger, greeted him politely and began to tell him about their adventures with a beard and between the horns of a cow. The rich man smiled slyly and said:
- All this is nonsense: it was even better with me. Listen and be comforted! I once climbed to the second floor of my house, raised the window and began to amuse myself by spitting on passing beggars. I don’t know how the window bolt moved back: the window suddenly dropped down and flattened my nose with its weight. The nose is gone! To my chagrin, everyone is laughing; No one regretted it, not even my wife!
Another time it was even cleaner. My fellow villagers chose me in the qadi. No matter how much I refused, I had to agree. They said that they chose me for my intelligence, but I had no idea that they needed my wealth. The house is full of soft boys, but they don’t listen well, the damned ones! I had to go somewhere on business, and the slacker software, knowing, of course, that I was narrow-minded, conspired with my wife to laugh at me. I arrive home, when suddenly everyone unanimously says: oh, how you have changed, Kadi! My wife asks with sympathy if I am sick. I foolishly believed it and, hanging my head, went to my room to lie down at least a little. It really seemed to me that I was missing something. Everyone thought I was sick. They called Aze, but he did not order him to take food; says: “I’ve eaten too much!” The hunger is bothering me terribly, and I’m already thinking about committing suicide. My wife keeps calming me down and, leaving, as if out of forgetfulness, leaves an egg, peeled from the shell; Apparently, she herself was going to feast on it, or maybe she wanted to pamper me with a tasty morsel, but in such a way that the strict aze would not see it. Tormented by hunger, I greedily attacked the egg. As soon as he managed to put it completely into his mouth, Aze suddenly runs in. I was scared: I hadn’t had time to swallow the egg yet, but I was afraid to throw it away: Azey was too strict! So it stayed in my mouth. Aze attacked me: “What is this bump you have? Ay-ay, it’s a plague!” Before I had time to look back, he took out the tool, in the blink of an eye made an incision on his cheek and triumphantly pulled out the egg! The software came running here; the wife also appeared. It hurts me, and they burst into laughter. That's where I got this scar from! After your nonsense, mine will be the third and fourth.
Which of them was dumber? The travelers went no further. They finally realized that fools are a dime a dozen: fools are neither sown nor reaped, but they themselves will be born.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru