Once Nasrudin was travelling to a nearby town on a bullock cart. The journey was a long one and in order to pass away the time, he started conversing with his co passengers. He asked one fellow passenger how many children he had. The passenger replied that he had two and both were girls.
"How old are they and do they go to school?" asked Hodja. "One is four years and the other is 6 years and only one and only one of my children go to school," said the passenger.
"You are forgetting your grammar," Nasrudin Hodja told the passenger. "You must say only one of my children goes to school. Speak correctly or don't ever speak at all."
Sometime later, Nasrudin Hodja's bag of potatoes fell off the cart. But remembering Hodja's words, the passenger kept quiet. When Hodja saw his bag of potatoes missing, he asked the passenger about it.
The passenger told him that it fell off the cart a long time back. "But why didn't you tell me about it?" Hodja wanted to know.
"I was planning to tell it to you, but I was wondering whether 'Your bag is falling off' was correct or 'Your bag fell off' was more correct. Since, I didn't know, I kept quiet," replied the man.
Hodja cursed himself!
source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html
"How old are they and do they go to school?" asked Hodja. "One is four years and the other is 6 years and only one and only one of my children go to school," said the passenger.
"You are forgetting your grammar," Nasrudin Hodja told the passenger. "You must say only one of my children goes to school. Speak correctly or don't ever speak at all."
Sometime later, Nasrudin Hodja's bag of potatoes fell off the cart. But remembering Hodja's words, the passenger kept quiet. When Hodja saw his bag of potatoes missing, he asked the passenger about it.
The passenger told him that it fell off the cart a long time back. "But why didn't you tell me about it?" Hodja wanted to know.
"I was planning to tell it to you, but I was wondering whether 'Your bag is falling off' was correct or 'Your bag fell off' was more correct. Since, I didn't know, I kept quiet," replied the man.
Hodja cursed himself!
source: Stories from Here and There, Ekalavya Education Foundation - By: Sunil Handa - http://www.eklavya.org/storyhere.html
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