One day Hodja went to a hammam. In order, he took off his turban, fur coat, robe, scimitar, sash, baggy trousers, and his other clothes in the dressing room. He went into the bath. When he later returned to get dressed, he noticed his fur coat was gone. He put on his other clothes and told his problem to the hammam proprietor, who replied, “I’m sorry Hodja, but I think that you are a forgetful old man, and you’ve made a mistake. Stealing and such things never ever happen here!” Hodja was not satisfied with this explanation, and sadly went home.
One month later, Hodja visit the hammam again. He took off his clothes, took a bath and came back to clothing room. His new fur coat and other clothes were untouched, but his lovely turban was gone. He got the same excuse from the proprietor, and became both sorry and angry. But there was nothing to be done, so he went home.
After each hammam visit Hodja missed a piece of clothing, until finally, he found only his sash and scimitar remaining. He dried off with a towel, tied his sash to his naked waist and hung his scimitar on the sash.
He marched in to the hammam proprietor, pointed to his sash and scimitar and said, “Dear mister proprietor, I may be an old man, and even forgetful, but for the love of Allah, can you tell me with a straight face that I actually came to the hammam like this?