The Mulla sent a boy to get water from the well.
   ‘Make sure you don’t break the pot!’ he shouted, and gave
the child a clout.
   ‘Mulla,’ asked a spectator, ‘why do you strike someone who
‘hasn’t done anything?’
   ‘Because, you fool, said the Mulla, ‘it would be too late to
punish him after he broke the pot, wouldn’t it?’