Efendi,’ said the man, ‘you say that the ass is not at home, and there he is braying within.’ ‘What a strange fellow you are!’ said the Cogia. ‘You believe the ass, but will not believe a grey-bearded man like me.’

   One day the Cogia said to his wife, ‘O wife, how do you know when a man is dead?’ ‘I know it by his hands and feet being cold,’ said she. One day as the Cogia was going to the mountain for wood, he felt cold in his hands and feet; whereupon he said, ‘I am a dead man,’ and laid himself down at the foot of a tree. Some wolves, however, coming up and beginning to devour his ass, the Cogia shouted to the wolves from the place where he was lying, ‘The ass is dead, it seems, and not the master.’

   One day as the Cogia was cutting wood in the mountain, a wolf, coming up to his ass, began to devour it; but on seeing the Cogia, it took the ass and went away. A man who saw what happened, cried out, ‘There he goes!’ Whereupon the Cogia said, ‘Hallo, man: why do you cry out? You must not hinder a wolf who has dined from mounting.’

   One day as the Cogia was conducting his ass to the market, the tail of the animal becoming draggled with mud, the Cogia cut it off and put it into a sack. Arriving at the market, he put up the ass to auction; and on a person crying out, ‘What is the use of this tailless creature?’ he said, ‘Don’t you leave your tail in the desert when you come to market?’

   One day as the Cogia was coming from a distant place, his ass chanced to be very thirsty, when

   all of a sudden they arrived at the margin of a pool. Unfortunately, however, the sides of the pool were very steep, and the ass of the Cogia, on seeing the water, not being able to restrain himself, ran forward to the pool. Just as he was falling in, the frogs of the pool began to croak violently; their voices frightening the ass, he ran back. The Cogia, however, seized hold of him, and exclaiming, ‘Bravo, ye birds of the pool!’ he took out a handful of aspres, and flung them into the pool, saying, ‘Here’s something for sweetmeats: take and eat.’

   In the time of Cogia Nasr Eddin Efendi, three priests, who showed themselves versed in every kind of learning, travelling through the world, at last came to the country of the Soldan Ala Eddin. The Emperor invited them to accept the true faith; whereupon the three said, ‘Each one of us has a question to ask, and if you can give us an answer, we will adopt your religion.’ All agreed to this condition; and Soldan Ala Eddin having assembled 

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