Talking Turkey

One of the things that sometimes baffles me is how isolated the US is from world culture. A good example of this is a quaint little character known as Hodja Nasreddin. His mis-adventures, witticisms and quips are beloved all over the world, from Europe to Africa to China. However, he is virtually unknown in the US. So I thought I would give y'all a little taste of Turkish humor:

One day Hodja Nasreddin was walking through the town when he saw a large crowd surrounding a well. Inside, he could see a man struggling to stay above water. Everyone was crowding around the well, screaming "Give me your hand! Give me your hand!" but the man stubbornly refused their offers and continued his futile struggle.

Hodja Nasreddin walked up to the man and stretching out his hand said "Effendi, please take my hand!" The man immediately grasped his hand and was pulled out of the well. Hodja Nasreddin then said to the crowd, "Don't you know that this man is a tax collector? He is much more practiced in taking than giving."