Peach payment

Nasrudin had moved to a new town and was badly in need of money. He agreed to pick peaches off of a local man's orchard for fifty dollars a day. However, after he completed a full day's work and went to collect his pay, the orchard owner told him he didn't have any money.

"But listen," he added. "Come back here tomorrow afternoon, and I'll let you eat as many peaches as you want."

Nasrudin, quite disappointed, reluctantly agreed; and the very next day, he arrived at the orchard precisely at noon.

Seconds later, he climbed a ladder to the top of a tree, grabbed a peach, and began eating it rapidly.

The orchard owner, quite puzzled by Nasrudin's behavior, couldn't help but ask him about it.

"Mulla, he said, "Why in the world did you choose to eat from the top of that tree? Wouldn't it be easier to just each the peaches on branches closer to the ground?"

"That will not do," Nasrudin replied.

"And why not," the man curiously asked.

"Well," replied Nasrudin, "haven't you ever heard the saying, 'If you are sweeping stairs, start from the top.'"

"What does that have to do with this?" the man asked.

"Simple," said Nasrudin. "Unless I am systematic and start from the top of each tree, how else will I be able to eat every peach in this orchard by the day's end?"

Camel or man?

Friend: "Nasrudin, which is wiser: camel or man?"

Nasrudin: "Camel."

"Why."

"Because a camel carries loads but does not ask for more, whereas man, even if he is overwhelmed by responsibility, often chooses to add more."

Compiled from the internet