Nasrudin sometimes took people for trips in his boat. One day a fussy pedagogue hired him to ferry him across a very wide river.
As soon as they were afloat the scholar asked whether it was going to be rough.
‘Don’t ask me nothing about it,’ said Nasrudin.
‘Have you never studied grammar?’
‘No,’ said the Mulla.
‘In that case, half your life has been wasted.’
The Mulla said nothing.
Soon a terrible storm blew up. The Mulla’s crazy cockleshell was filling with water.
He leaned over towards his companion.
‘Have you ever learnt to swim?’
‘No,’ said the pedant.
‘In that case, schoolmaster, ALL your life is lost, for we are sinking.’