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One of the Khoja's duties as a religious teacher was to preach to the people. But once upon a time he became very lazy about this, and was always seeking an excuse to shorten or omit his sermons.
The Khoja accordingly exerted himself to the utmost of his power, and he got nine of the blind men safely across; but as he was helping the tenth, the man lost his footing, and in spite of the Khoja's efforts the river overpowered him, and bore him away. Thereupon the nine blind men on the opposite shore set up a lamentable wail, crying, "What has happened, O Khoja?"
And as he spoke, the Jew put nine hundred and ninety-nine gold pieces into a purse, and dropped the purse down the Khoja's chimney, with the intention of giving him annoyance. The Khoja picked up the purse and opened it. "Allah be praised!" he cried, "for the fulfilment of my desires. Here are the thousand pieces."
On her replying in the affirmative he ran off to the bazaar, with his arms still stretched out, and meeting a man on the road, he bawled to him, "Look where you are going, O man, or you will cause me to lose my measure!" Another day the Khoja's wife washed his caftan and spread it upon a tree in the garden of the house.
"O, you fellows!" said the Khoja, "biting is easy enough, and you can fall and break your own head into the bargain." Tale 13. The Khoja's Quilt. One night after Khoja Nasr-ed-Deen had retired to rest he was disturbed by a man making a great noise before his door in the street outside.
"It is not the voice of a native songster," said the Khoja demurely, "but the foreign nightingale sings so." Tale 16. The Khoja's Donkey and The Woollen Pelisse. One day the Khoja mounted his donkey to ride to the garden, but on the way there he had business which obliged him to dismount and leave the donkey for a short time.
"O most courteous entertainers!" replied the Khoja, "since the pelisse has commanded such respect at your hands, is it not proper that it should also partake of the food?" Tale 3. The Khoja's Slippers. One day, when the idle boys of the neighbourhood were gathered together and ready for mischief, they perceived the Khoja approaching. "Here comes this mad Khoja!" they said.
By the month of September in the same year that witnessed the passage of the invading force through the Terek defile, the triumph of the Khoja's arms was assured. A few weeks later Mahomed Yakoob deposed his master, and caused himself to be proclaimed ruler in his stead.
Then the rascal who was making the disturbance, seeing a fine quilt floating from the Khoja's shoulders, came behind him and snatched it away, and ran off with it. After a while the Khoja felt thoroughly chilled, and he went back to bed. "Well, Effendi," said his wife: "what have you discovered?" "We were more concerned in the noise than you thought," said the Khoja.
"O neighbours!" answered the Khoja, "believe me, I speak with moderation. If you look into the vase, you will find that according to its account to-day is the one hundred and twentieth." Tale 8. The Khoja and the Thief. One day a thief got into the Khoja's house, and the Khoja watched him.
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