One night as the Cogia was lying in his bed he perceived a thief moving upon the housetop. Now, the Cogia’s wife was lying at his side, and he said to her, ‘O wife, last night wishing to enter the house, I repeated this prayer and descended the chimney on the rays of the moon.’ The thief above heard these words of the Cogia, and after a little time, repeating the prayer which the Cogia had repeated, essayed to go down the chimney upon the rays of the moon, but tumbled down headlong. The Cogia, who was not yet
sleep, rising in haste, seized the thief by the collar and cried out, ‘O wife, be quick and light a candle, for I have caught a thief!’ hereupon the thief exclaimed humorously, ‘O Cogia Efendi, don’t be in a hurry; the virtue in that prayer being in me was rather too much for me, and so I tumbled down here.’
Nasr Eddin Efendi had an old ox which had exceedingly great horns, and so far apart, that it was possible for a person to sit between them. Every time that the ox drew nigh the Cogia was in the habit of saying to himself, ‘How I should like to sit between his horns,’ and calculating as to the possibility of doing so. One day the ox came and laid himself down before the house. Cries the Cogia, ‘Now is my time!’ and mounting, he took his seat betwixt the ox’s two horns. Presently, however, the ox, rising upon his legs, flung the Cogia upon the ground, where he lay for some time quite senseless. His wife coming and seeing him lying motionless, began to lament. After some time, the Cogia, recovering a little, on seeing his wife weeping by his side, exclaimed, ‘O wife, do not weep, I have suffered a great deal, but I have had my desire.’
One day a thief got into the Cogia’s house. Cries his wife, ‘O Cogia, there is a thief in the house.’ ‘Don’t make any disturbance,’ says the Cogia. ‘I wish to God that he may find something, so that I may take it from him.’
One day the Cogia’s wife said to him, ‘Go and lie down yonder, a little way off.’ The Cogia, getting up, forthwith took his shoes in his hand, and walked during two days; at the end of which, meeting a man, he said, ‘Go and ask my wife whether I have gone far enough, or must go yet farther.’
One night as the Cogia was lying with his wife, he said, ‘O wife, if you love me, get up and light a candle, that I may write down a verse which has come into my head.’ His wife, getting up, lighted the candle, and brought him pen and inkstand. The Cogia wrote, and his wife said, ‘O Efendi of my soul, won’t you read to me what you have written?’ Whereupon the Cogia read, ‘Amongst the green leaves methinks I see a black hen go with a red bill.’
One day the Cogia being ill, a number of women came to inquire about his health. One of the women said, ‘God knows whether you will die; but if you do, what shall we say when we lament over you?’ ‘Say this,’ said the Cogia, ‘when you lament over me, “Notwithstanding all he did, he could never understand everything.”’
Cogia Efendi, every time he returned to his house, was in the habit of bringing a piece of liver, which his wife always gave to a common woman, placing before the Cogia leavened patties to eat when he came home in the evening. One
day the Cogia said, ‘O wife, every day I bring home a liver: where do they all go to?’ ‘The cat runs away with all of them,’ replied the wife. Thereupon the Cogia getting up, put his hatchet in the trunk and locked it up. Says his wife to the Cogia, ‘For fear of whom do you lock up the hatchet?’ ‘For fear of the cat,’ replied the Cogia. ‘What should the cat do with the hatchet?’ said the wife. ‘Why,’ replied the Cogia, ‘as he takes a fancy to the liver, which costs two aspres, is it not likely that he will take a fancy to the hatchet, which costs four?’
One day the wife of the Cogia wanted to go to the bath. Now the Cogia had a little money which he kept in a corner hid from his wife. As she went out of the door she looked back. ‘Stay,’ said the Cogia, ‘I am just dead, and here’s a little money I have left behind me.’