Do You Know What I Am Going to Say?
- 2 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Moral Stories
Mulla Nasruddin was asked to speak to the people of the village, and a crowd gathered to hear him.
He came out, stood in front of them, and opened with a question.
"Do you know what I am going to say to you?"
The crowd looked at each other.
"No," they said. "We do not."
"Then there is no point in my telling you," said Nasruddin, "because you are clearly not ready for it."
And he went home.
The second time
They asked him again the following week, and a larger crowd came, because word had got round.
He stood up and asked the same question.
"Do you know what I am going to say to you?"
They had prepared for this.
"Yes!" they shouted. "We do!"
"Then there is no point in my telling you," said Nasruddin, "because you already know it."
And he went home.
The third time
The village held a meeting about it and worked out a plan, and asked him a third time, and the whole village came.
He stood up and asked the question.
And half the crowd shouted "Yes!" and the other half shouted "No!", exactly as agreed.
Nasruddin nodded slowly, as though this was a very reasonable answer.
"Excellent," he said. "Then the half who know should tell the half who do not."
And he went home.
Moral of the story
Nasruddin never once refuses. He accepts every answer they give and follows it exactly where it leads, which is out of the door.
Questions and answers
- What question did Nasruddin ask the crowd?
Whether they knew what he was going to say to them.
- What happened when they answered no?
He said they were not ready for it and went home.
- What happened when they answered yes?
He said they already knew it, so there was no point telling them, and went home.
- What plan did the village make?
Half would answer yes and half would answer no.
- How did Nasruddin escape that?
He told the half who knew to tell the half who did not, and went home.
Word meanings
- sermon
- A talk given to a group, usually about how to live.
- gathered
- Came together in one place.
- prepared
- Got ready in advance.
- agreed
- Decided together.
Questions about Do You Know What I Am Going to Say?
What is the moral of this story?
That a question with only bad answers is a trap, and that Nasruddin never has to refuse anything because every answer he is given leads where he wants.
Is Nasruddin avoiding work?
That is the joke, and the story never resolves it. Some readers see a lazy man; others see a teacher showing that people want to be told things rather than think.
Why do the villagers keep coming back?
Because each time they believe they have solved it, which is the shape that makes the third round funny rather than repetitive.
How old is this story?
Nasreddin tales have been collected since at least the thirteenth century, and this is one of the most widely retold.