It happened once upon a time that the great Emperor Tamerlane, in the course of his journeys, came to the village where Mullah Nasruddin was living. Thinking that it would be courteous to pay his respects, Nasruddin put on his second best turban (having sold the best one in a moment of need) and set off for the inn where Tamerlane was staying.

He had not gone far when it occurred to him that he should take something as a gift. Therefore he bought a roast goose that had just come out of the oven, and bearing it on a tray, proceded toward the inn. The aroma of the goose was very tempting, though, and before he had reached the inn, somehow one of the legs of the goose had disappeared.

When Nasruddin presented the goose to Tamerlane, the Emperor noticed immediately that one leg was missing.

“What insolence is this?” he shouted. “How dare you give me a goose with only one leg?”

“But your majesty,” Nasruddin said, “that is how the geese are here. All the geese of this region have only one leg.”

“Only one leg? Do you take me for a fool?”

“I swear by my turban it is true,” Nasruddin replied. “Only look out the window and see.”

Tamerlane looked out the window. There, on the meadow beside the lake, a number of geese were standing, each on only one leg. Disgusted, Tamerlane shouted to one of his men to chase the birds away. The man went and threw a large stick at the birds, who immediately ran off – on two legs.

“You see, Mullah, you were lying. They have two legs!”

“Majesty,” Nasruddin replied, “if such a large stick were thrown at me, I would also grow extra legs to run away.”