Nasrudin, knowing his son was looking for a wife, asked him what type of wife he wanted. “One who is intelligent and expressive,” the latter replied. “OK,” replied Nasrudin, “I’ll help you find such a woman.”
So Nasrudin led his son to the town square. In front of all the people he slapped his son, and exclaimed, “This is what you get for doing exactly what I told you to do!”
One young lady saw this and remarked, “Stop hitting him. How can you punish him for obeying what you said?” When the son heard this, he turned to his father and said, “She seems like the right woman for me—don’t you think so?”
“Well,” replied Nasrudin, “she is certainly expressive and intelligent, but perhaps there’s a woman out there who is an even better fit for you.”
So Nasrudin led his son the neighboring town’s square, and repeated the same scene. This time, a young lady saw this and said, “Go ahead and hit him. Only a fool would follow orders so blindly.”
When Nasrudin heard this, he said to his son, “The first woman, she was intelligent and expressive—but this woman is on an entirely higher level altogether. I think we’ve found your future wife.”