（A）

Nasreddin had a shed（棚屋）behind his house.It had no lights in it. One night he went out to the shed to get his ladder， and lost his ring there. He left the ladder， went out into the street and began to look around.

One of his friends saw him in the street outside his house， and said to him，“Hello， Hasreddin. What are you looking for?”

“My ring，”answered Nasreddin.“It fell of my finger. It is a silver ring with a red stone in it.”

“Oh， yes，”said his friend.“I remember it. I will help you to look for it. Where did you lose it?”

“In my shed.”

“But why don＇t you look for it in there?”

“Don＇t be stupid!It is quite dark in my shed， so how will I find my ring there? Here there is light from the lamps in the street.”

（B）

Mrs Andrews had a young cat， and it was the cat＇s first winter. One evening it was outside when it began to snow heavily. Mrs Andrews looked everywhere and shouted its name， but she did not find it， so she telephoned the police and said，“I have lost a small black cat. Has anybody found one?”

“No， madam，”said the policeman at the other end.“But cats are really very strong animals. They sometimes live for days in the snow， and when it melts（溶化）or somebody finds them， they are quite all right.”

Mrs Andrews felt happier when she heard his.“And our cat is very clever. She almost talks.”She said.

The policeman was getting rather tired.“Well then，”he said，“Why don＇t you put your telephone down? Perhaps she is trying to telephone you now.”

（C）

One morning Nasreddin left his house with six donkeys（驢）to go to the market. After a time， he got tired and got on to one of them. He counted the donkeys， and there were only five， so he got off and went to look for the sixth. He looked and looked but did not find it， so he went back to the donkeys and counted them again. This time there were six，so he got on to one of them again and they all started.

After a few minutes he counted the donkeys again， and again there were only five!While he was counting again a friend of his passed， and Nasreddin said to him，“I left my house with six donkeys， then I had five; then I had six again; and now I have only five!Look!One， two， three， four， five.”

“But， Nasreddin，”said his friend，“You are sitting on a donkey， too!That is the sixth!And you are the seventh!”

（D）

One of Nasreddin＇s friends loved money very much， and never gave anything to anybody. Soon he became rich.

One day， he was walking near the river with his friends when he slipped（滑倒） and fell in. His friends ran to help him and one of them knelt on the ground， held out his hand and said，“Give me your hand， and I will pull you out!”The rich man＇s head went under the water and then came up again， but he did not give his friend his hand. Again another of his friends tried， but again the same thing happened.

Then Nasreddin said，“Take my hand and I will pull you out!”The rich man took his hand， and Nasreddin pulled him out of the water.

“You don＇t know our friend very well，”he said to the others.“When you say ‘Give’ to him， he does nothing; but when you say ‘Take＇， he takes!”

（E）

Nasreddin wanted to buy some new clothes， so he went to a shop.First he asked for some trousers and put them on， but then he took them off and gave them back to the shopkeeper and said，“No， give me a coat instead of these.”

The man gave him a coat and said，“This one costs the same as the trousers.”Nasreddin took the coat and walked out of the shop with it. The shopkeeper ran after him and said，“You have not paid for the coat!”

“But I gave you the trousers for the coat，”said Nasreddin.“They cost the same as the coat， didn＇t they?”

“Yes，” said the shopkeeper， “But you didn＇t pay the trousers， either!”

“Of course I didn＇t!”answered Nasreddin.“I did not take them. I am not stupid!Nobody gives things back and then pays for them!”