People were talking about strange, sometimes mythical beasts,
and someone in the teahouse told Nasrudin that there were 
monsters to be found even near his own village.
   As he was on his way home, the Mulla saw a new animal. It
had long ears, like a donkey, but it was brownish, furry and 
chewing. So preoccupied was it that Nasrudin was able to steal
up to it and catch it by the ears. He had never seen anything
like this before. It was, in fact, a rabbit.
   He took it home and tied it in a sack, forbidding his wife to
open it. Then he hurried back to the teahouse.
   ‘I have found something,’ he announced gravely, ‘which has
ears like a donkey, munches like a camel, and is now in a sack
in my house. There has never been an animal like this seen before.’
   Immediately the teahouse emptied, and everyone ran to the 
Mulla’s home to see this wonder.
   Meanwhile, of course, his wife had opened the sack, unable to
restrain her curiosity. The rabbit bounded out of the house and
away. She could think of nothing better to do than put a stone in
the sack instead, and tie it up again.
   Soon the Mulla arrived with his friends clamoring to see the
monster.
   He opened the sack, and the stone fell out. There was a dead
silence. Nasrudin recovered first.
   ‘Friends! If you take seven of these stones, they will be found
to weigh three-quarters of a pound.’