lace let us come to an understanding;
if you can answer my questions let us hold discourse, if not, let us say
nothing.' Says the Cogia, 'What may your questions be?' Said the
shepherd, 'The moon, when it is new, is small, afterwards it increases,
until it looks like a wheel; after the fifteenth, it diminishes, and does
not remain; then again, there is a little one, of the size of Hilal,
which does remain. Now what becomes of the old moons?' Says the Cogia,
'How is it that you don't know a thing like that? They take those old
moons and make lightning of them; have you not seen them when the heaven
thunders, glittering like so many swords?' 'Bravo, Faquir,' said the
shepherd. 'Well art thou acquainted with the matter, I had come to the
same conclusion myself.'

Nasr Eddin Efendi, now with God, had a sum of money. One day, when all
was quiet in the house, he dug in the earth and buried it; then going to
the door he looked out and said, 'I'll suppose myself a thief, and that I
find this, and forthwith take it away and bury it in another place, and
my heart is no more troubled about it.' Thus saying, he came and took up
his treasure. Now before the house there was a height, and the Cogia
going to the garden of the house, cut a pole, and putting the money in a
sack, tied the sack to the top of the pole, and bringing the pole, stuck
it up on the top of the height; then going down he looked upwards and
said, 'Unless a man is a bird he cannot fly up to that, I have surely
chosen a good place,' and having said this, he went away. Now it
happened that a thief saw all that Cogia did, and no sooner was the Cogia
gone, than he climbed up the height and took down the money, and putting
upon the top of the pole a quantity of bullock's dung, he stuck up the
pole again and went his way. Some time afterwards the Cogia being in
need of money, came to the foot of the pole and saw that all the money
was gone, and that a quantity of bullock's dung was on the pole. Said
he, 'I said that no man could mount this pole and take away the money,
but how bullock's dung should get to the top of the pole is a very
strange matter indeed. So,' said the Cogia, 'may the Lord have mercy
upon him.'

One day as the Cogia was going to his house, he met a number of students,
and said to them, 'Gentlemen, pray this night come to our house and taste
a sup of the old father's broth.' 'Very good,' said the students, and
following the Cogia, came to