The House Full of Chickens
by J. Robert Schott
This is an old story from the oral tradition.
There was a family who lived in a small, one-room house with five children. It was crowded. They went to the local wise man, the Mulla Nazrudin, and said it was intolerable.
They had no space and no money for a bigger house. What were they to do?
The Mulla said, “Do you have any animals?”
They said, “We have a cow and a pig and twelve chickens.”
The Mulla said, “Move the cow into the house for a day and everything will be fine.”
They came back in a day and said it was worse. The cow took up too much space and shat on the floor and it was worse than before.
The Mulla said, “Move the pig into the house too, for two days, and it will be fine.”
They came back in two days and said it was terrible. The cow and the pig shat all over the house, knocked over the furniture, and ate the bedding while they tried to sleep.
The Mulla said, “Move the chickens into the house for a week and everything will be fine.”
In a week's time, they were exhausted, dirty, and angry, and returned to the Mulla whining about their lot.
The Mulla said, “Move all the animals out of your house. Everything will be fine.”
They no longer felt crowded and lived happily ever after.
No… that's not true. They soon found something new to complain about, but they did not take their problem to the Mulla. His cure had come with two benefits: As well as resolving their overcrowded feelings, it kept the whiny bunch from coming back to him with more problems.
There was a family who lived in a small, one-room house with five children. It was crowded. They went to the local wise man, the Mulla Nazrudin, and said it was intolerable.
They had no space and no money for a bigger house. What were they to do?
The Mulla said, “Do you have any animals?”
They said, “We have a cow and a pig and twelve chickens.”
The Mulla said, “Move the cow into the house for a day and everything will be fine.”
They came back in a day and said it was worse. The cow took up too much space and shat on the floor and it was worse than before.
The Mulla said, “Move the pig into the house too, for two days, and it will be fine.”
They came back in two days and said it was terrible. The cow and the pig shat all over the house, knocked over the furniture, and ate the bedding while they tried to sleep.
The Mulla said, “Move the chickens into the house for a week and everything will be fine.”
In a week's time, they were exhausted, dirty, and angry, and returned to the Mulla whining about their lot.
The Mulla said, “Move all the animals out of your house. Everything will be fine.”
They no longer felt crowded and lived happily ever after.
No… that's not true. They soon found something new to complain about, but they did not take their problem to the Mulla. His cure had come with two benefits: As well as resolving their overcrowded feelings, it kept the whiny bunch from coming back to him with more problems.