One cold night the king called Nasreddin to him and said, “If you’re able to spend this night in the courtyard with only your shirt on, I will give you one hundred gold coins!”

In the courtyard Nasreddin saw a stone mill. He began to push it around, faster and faster. When dawn came, he was sweating all over himself.

The king got up and was surprised to see Nasreddin in high sprits. The king hated to lose one hundred gold coins, so he asked, “Was there a moon last night?”

“Yes.”

“Then our bargain is off,” said the king. “If there was a moon, it was warm. In that case even I could have spent the night outside!”

A few months later, the king and his men went hunting. It was hot summer and at the edge of the desert it was like a furnace. The king and his men were dying of thirst.

They turned toward Nasreddin’s house in the hope of getting some water. Nasreddin was sitting in the edge of his well when he heard the voice of the king, “Nasreddin, bring some fresh water! Be quick and serve us!”

“Please make yourself at home,” said Nasreddin.

“Where is the water?” cried the king.

“Right here, Your Majesty, you see?” Nasreddin pointed to the well.

“You only show me the water but don’t give me a drink!” fumed the king.

“Your Majesty, if the rays of the moon can warm a person, the sight of water can satisfy his thirst.”

國王把納斯雷丁叫到他的身邊說：“要是你能只穿一件襯衣在院子里度過這一夜，我就送給你一百枚金幣！”

納斯雷丁在院子里看到一盤石磨，便開始推著石磨轉(zhuǎn)，越轉(zhuǎn)越快。當黎明來臨時，他汗流浹背。

國王起床后，看到納斯雷丁精神抖擻，就吃了一驚。國王不愿意失去一百枚金幣，就問：“昨晚有月亮嗎？”

“有。”

“那我們的交易無效，”國王說。“要是有月亮，天就很暖和。在那種情況下，就是我也能在外面過夜！”

幾個月后，國王和他的隨從們?nèi)ゴ颢C。那是一個炎熱的夏天，在沙漠的邊緣，天熱得像火爐一樣。國王和隨從們渴得要死。

他們轉(zhuǎn)身向納斯雷丁家走去，希望搞點水喝。納斯雷丁正坐在井沿上，突然聽到國王的聲音：“納斯雷丁，端些干凈水！快來伺候我們！”

“請不要拘束，”納斯雷丁說。

“水在哪里？”國王叫道。

“陛下，就在這里，你看到了吧？”納斯雷丁指著井說。

“你只是讓我看了水，卻沒有讓我喝！”國王發(fā)怒說。

“陛下，要是月亮的光線能給人溫暖，那看看水也能解渴。”