The Omelette

One fine day, because he happened to be feeling generous and benevolent, Nasreddine Hodja decided that he didn't really want to eat dinner alone and invited one of his neighbours to share it with him. He took a great deal of trouble preparing the meal, the principle dish of which was lamb tongues with parsely and lemon.

His neighbour arrived at the appointed hour and, after having greeted his guest, Nasreddine said, "Why don't we go and sit down and talk for just a little while; dinner will be ready presently." When the meal was nearly ready, Nasreddine excused himself to do the final preparation and then proudly brought the steaming dishes to the table. However, when his guest saw that the main dish was lamb tongues, he said, "Oh, no! I can't possibly eat something that comes out of an animal's mouth! I find that quite disgusting!"

Said Nasreddine, "That's quite all right, my friend; I'll go and prepare you an omelette."

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