Eat, My Coat, Eat
- 2 minute read
- Ages 6-11
- Moral Stories
Mulla Nasruddin was invited to a wedding feast at a rich man's house.
He had been working all day and did not stop to change, so he arrived in his ordinary clothes, which were old and dusty.
The first arrival
Nobody at the door recognised him.
He was shown to a place at the far end of the hall, behind a pillar, where the servants ate. The dishes came round in order of importance, and by the time they reached that corner there was very little left on them.
Nasruddin sat there for a while.
Then he got up and went home.
The second arrival
He came back an hour later in his best coat, a fine one, with an embroidered turban.
The doorman bowed. He was taken to the front of the hall and seated near the host, and a dish of the best food was brought and set down in front of him at once.
Nasruddin looked at it.
Then he took hold of the wide sleeve of his coat, and dipped it in the dish.
"Eat, my coat," he said. "Eat."
The hall
The room went quiet.
The host came over and asked, carefully, what he was doing.
"I am feeding my coat," said Nasruddin. "I came here an hour ago in my own clothes and sat behind a pillar and was given nothing. I have come back in this coat and I am seated by the host and given the best dish in the house. Plainly the invitation was for the coat, and not for me."
He let go of the sleeve.
"So the coat should eat. It would be rude of me to eat food that was put down for somebody else."
Moral of the story
Nasruddin does not accuse anyone of anything. He simply feeds the thing that was actually invited and lets the room work it out.
Questions and answers
- Why was Nasruddin seated behind a pillar the first time?
He arrived in old dusty working clothes, so nobody recognised him or thought him important.
- What happened to the food at that end of the hall?
The dishes were passed in order of importance, so very little was left by the time they reached him.
- What did he do about it?
He went home and returned in a fine coat and embroidered turban.
- How was he treated the second time?
He was bowed to, seated near the host, and given the best dish immediately.
- What did he do with the food?
He dipped his sleeve in it and told his coat to eat, since the coat was what had been invited.
Word meanings
- feast
- A large meal for a special occasion.
- pillar
- A tall upright post supporting a building.
- embroidered
- Decorated with sewn patterns.
- host
- The person giving a party or meal.
Questions about Eat, My Coat, Eat
What is the moral of Eat, My Coat, Eat?
That people often respond to appearance rather than to the person. Nasruddin makes the point by treating the coat as the real guest.
Why does Nasruddin not just complain?
Because a complaint is easy to dismiss and a demonstration is not. Every Nasruddin story works this way.
Is this story told outside South Asia?
Yes. It is one of the most widely travelled Nasreddin tales and appears across Turkey, Iran, Central Asia, the Balkans and North Africa.
What is a good discussion for children?
Ask whether the host did anything wrong, and whether anyone actually decided to treat him badly. Usually nobody did, which is the interesting part.