It happened once upon a time that Mullah Nasruddin had a small piece of land that lay beside a well-travelled road. One morning, he told his wife, “I will go and dig in that field today. Please call me when the midday meal is ready.”

Nasruddin took his shovel and went to the field, and there he began to dig. People were passing back and forth along the road, but he paid no attention to them, only steadily digging. At last, when midday arrived, his wife called him. “Nasruddin, the food is ready!”

“I am coming!” the Mullah shouted in reply. “I just have to hide my shovel!”

When he got back to the house, his wife scolded him. “Nasruddin, don’t you know how to be quiet? If you want to hide something, how can you shout about it so all the world can hear?”

When the meal was finished, Nasruddin went again to the field and searched for his shovel, but was unable to find it. Returning to the house, he put his mouth close to his wife’s ear and whispered, “The shovel has been stolen.”