- “Nasrudin,” said the mayor, “Mrs Rahman’s husband died today. Go tell her, but try to break the news gently. She is a very frail lady.”Nasrudin went to her house and knocked on the door. A frail lady answered.
“Does Miss Rahman the widow live here?” asked Nasrudin.
“My name is Rahman, and I do live here,” the lady replied. “But I am not a widow.”
“Well,” Nasrudin replied, “I’m willing to bet a hundred dollars that you are!”
- Nasrudin’s cousin went to live far away, and left some of his possessions behind. One day, the cousin’s cat died, and Nasrudin sent him a message that bluntly said: “Your cat is dead.”
The cousin, very upset, sent a message back that said, “Where I live, we give people bad news more tactfully. Instead of just telling me flat out that my cat died, you should have let me know me little by little. You should have started off by saying something like, ‘Your cat is acting strange,’ then later, ‘your cat is jumping all over the place,’ then still later told me, ‘Your cat is missing,’ and then finally broken the news with, ‘Your cat is dead.’
A month later, Nasrudin’s cousin received a new letter from Nasrudin, which said: “Your mother is acting strangely.”