saw, as he supposed, a man standing in
the tree with his arms stretched out. Says the Cogia to his wife, 'O
wife, go and fetch me my bow and arrow.' His wife fetched and brought
them to him; the Cogia taking an arrow, shot it and pierced the kaftan
and stretched it on the ground; then returning, he made fast his door and
lay down to sleep. Going out in the morning he saw that what he had shot
was his own kaftan; thereupon, sitting down, he cried aloud, 'O God, be
thanked; if I had been in it I should have certainly been killed.'

One day the Cogia, going to the College, mounted into the car, in the
rear of the Moolahs. Said the Moolahs, 'O Cogia, why did you mount
backwards?' 'If I got in straightways,' said the Cogia, 'you would be at
my back. If you went before me your backs would be in my face, therefore
I mounted in this manner.'

One night as the Cogia was lying in his bed he perceived a thief moving
upon the housetop. Now, the Cogia's wife was lying at his side, and he
said to her, 'O wife, last night wishing to enter the house, I repeated
this prayer and descended the chimney on the rays of the moon.' The
thief above heard these words of the Cogia, and after a little time,
repeating the prayer which the Cogia had repeated, essayed to go down the
chimney upon the rays of the moon, but tumbled down headlong. The Cogia,
who was not yet sleep, rising in haste, seized the thief by the collar
and cried out, 'O wife, be quick and light a candle, for I have caught a
thief!' hereupon the thief exclaimed humorously, 'O Cogia Efendi, don't
be in a hurry; the virtue in that prayer being in me was rather too much
for me, and so I tumbled down here.'

Nasr Eddin Efendi had an old ox which had exceedingly great horns, and so
far apart, that it was possible for a person to sit between them. Every
time that the ox drew nigh the Cogia was in the habit of saying to
himself, 'How I should like to sit between his horns,' and calculating as
to the possibility of doing so. One day the ox came and laid himself
down before the house. Cries the Cogia, 'Now is my time!' and mounting,
he took his seat betwixt the ox's two horns. Presently, however, the ox,
rising upon his legs, flung the Cogia upon the ground, where he lay for
some time quite senseless. His wife coming and seeing him lying
motionless, began to lament. After some time, the Cogia, recovering a
little, on seeing his wife weeping by his side, exclaimed, 'O wife,