The Mulla in the Muddle

The Mulla in a Muddle

The Sultan’s elephant had wandered into Mulla Nasruddin Hodja’s village and was causing havoc in the fields.

The villagers finally decided to go in a delegation to the Sultan and request him to take the elephant away. As Mulla Nasruddin was known to the ruler, they asked him to lead the delegation.

When they arrived at the palace, the villagers were awed by the splendour of the surroundings and their courage deserted them. One by one they began to drop out of the group and slip away, so that when Hodja was finally in the Sultan’s presence he found to his dismay that he was alone. 

"Well, what do you want, Nasruddin!" snapped the Sultan, who was in a particularly bad mood that day.

"Y-your elephant is in our v-village, your Excellency," stuttered the Mulla.

"So?" growled the Sultan.

"So…so," said the Mulla, completely unnerved by the situation, "we, I mean I, have come to tell you that it is terribly lonely… please send it a companion."