Mulla Nasruddin cast off his belongings and took to begging outside the market gates . People wondered what on earth had happened to him . Also he seemed to have gotten rather stupid , as one time , as a joke, someone offered him a choice of one dinar coin or a gold and diamond ring , and he took the dinar ! Word got around and people started trying him out ; .... this plain ring or a ruby ring ? The plain one . This small value coin or a gold one ? The small coin . It became a source of great amusement .
Event to the extent that a local man took his out of town visitors there ; ''You must come and see our wonderful market ... as well as the entertaining beggar at the gate . '' So off they went , when they got there the man told his visitors, ''Watch this .'' He pulled out a small coin and an emerald , ''O beggar , do you want this coin... or the emerald , you can have either, but not both .'' He took the coin and the visitors were shocked, amused, entertained .... ''Let me try .'' said one of the visitors . She took a small ring off her finger , ''O Beggar, will you have this small gold ring , or the ruby on gold chain I wear around my neck ?'' The ring . They laughed and went into the market .
Except for one man , he had a different disposition and felt rather sorry for Nasruddun and approached him ; '' My good beggar , dont you see they are laughing at you ... why dont you take their valuable offerings and have a better life and stop being the butt of their jokes and laughter ?''
'' Why would I do that ? As far as being the butt of their jokes, I dont mind . If people of this town want to show their visitors how stupid I am and how smart they are , by giving me their coins and gold .... I dont mind . Besides If I took their most expensive offerings , they would soon stop giving them to me ... then I would have to go and get a job somewhere .