As everyone knows, Mullah Nasruddin could be clever – perhaps because he had so much practice in escaping from problems of his own making;

There was, for example, the time that Nasrudddin was proudly showing his class of students to the local Governor. The Governor watched the students turning the pages of the holy book in front of them and reading the words aloud, and as he seemed pleased, Nasruddin could not resist boasting. “I have a gift for teaching, your Excellency,” he said. “I could even teach a donkey to read.”

The Governor looked sceptically at the Mullah. “You claim you can teach a donkey to read? Then do it,” said the Governor. “If you have not taught a donkey to read in three months, there is a cell in my dungeon waiting for you.” And he left.

Motivated by the prospect of a long stay in the Governor’s prison, Nasruddin went home and set to work. Placing a book in front of his donkey, he hid wisps of hay between the pages. In time, and especially when the Mullah did not feed the donkey very much, the beast learned to turn the pages of the book with its muzzle and search out the hay.

Three months later, the Governor summoned Nasruddin to show him the donkey that could read.

Nasruddin arrived at the Governor’s palace with the donkey, and placed the book, without hay of course, in front of the animal. The donkey nosed hopefully through the pages, but finding no reward, began to bray loudly in complaint.

The Governor jumped at the loud noise. “You call that reading?” he demanded. “What kind of mullah are you?”

“Excellency,” said Nasruddin, “I said I could teach hm to read. I did not claim he would understand – that is between the donkey and the Almighty.”