It happened once that a group of young men were sitting under a nut tree, laughing and gossiping, when Mullah Nasruddin happened to pass by. Thinking that they could get some amusement out of the Mullah, they called him over, and one of them said, “Mullah, we’re hungry. Why don’t you climb up and get us some nuts?”

And another of the group laughed and said, “Are you joking? The Mullah isn’t a boy, he can’t climb trees.”

Nasruddin looked up into the tree and said, “Yes, I can.”

The young men looked at each other incredulously and one of them said “Really? You think you can climb this tree? We’ll give you five dihrams to do it!”

Nasruddin held out his hand. “Give me the money.”

The young men emptied their pockets and came up with the promised sum which Nasruddin tucked away in his pocket, and then said, “Now, give me the ladder.”