"How do you know that?" asked the wise man.
"If you do not believe me, count for yourself," said the Khoja.
But the wise man replied: "It is for you to count, and to prove to me the truth of what you say."
"With all my heart," replied the Khoja. "And I will do it in a way that cannot possibly fail. I shall first pull out a hair from your beard, and then one from my donkey's tail, and then another from your beard, and so on. Thus at the end it will be seen whether the number of the hairs of each kind exactly correspond."
But the wise man did not wait for this method of proof to be enforced by the Sultan. He hastily announced himself as a convert to the Padisha's wishes. The other two Sages followed his example, and their wisdom was for many years the light of the court of the Sultan Ala-ed-Deen.
Moreover, they became disciples of the Khoja.
Tale 5.—The Khoja's Donkey.
One day there came a man to the house of the Khoja to ask him for the loan of his donkey.
"The donkey is not at home," replied the Khoja, who was unwilling to lend his beast.
At this moment the donkey brayed loudly from within.