A cruel neighbor wanted to borrow Nasrudin’s donkey. ‘I’ll have to ask his permission.’ said the Mulla. ‘All right, go ahead and ask him.’ Nasrudin soon came back from the stable. ‘I am sorry, he is endowed with prescience, and says the future does not augur well for your relationship with him,’ he told the man. ‘What does he see in the future then?’ ‘I asked him. He simply said: ‘Long journeys and short meals, sore bones and scuffed knees.’