It happened once upon a time that Mullah Nasruddin was in a terrible mood. Perhaps he didn’t sleep well the night before, perhaps his shoes were too tight, perhaps he had a toothache – who knows? But the consequence was that he quarrelled all day with his wife, shouting at her about one thing after another until she had had enough, and ran out of the house to go to the neighbours.
The Mullah followed her there, and the neighbours, being good people, manage to calm him down, and gave the couple tea and sweets to smooth things over.
A day or two later, though, Nasruddin fell into the same bad mood and begin to complain about first one thing and then another. Finally his wife said, “I’m not going to listen to you any more!” and headed for the door.
As she left, Nasruddin called after her, “This time go to the baker’s house – they have delicious cakes!”
Goodness Nazruddin is incorrigible! He pesters his loving wife. He makes the most of his irritation. He knows his wife’s value. He knows his community. He knows how he can live with ease in his community. He is nevertheless a scallywag!