Abu Nawasአቡ ናዋስ

Narrated by Zaineba Abibeker Deremo

A husband and wife were quarrelling and the husband said his wife was stupid.

She said to her friends, “I want to buy cleverness.”

Abu Nawas passed them and overheard.

So Abu Nawas went out in the street and played with a ball in a net and was bouncing it up and down, shouting, “Who will buy cleverness?”

She said, “I will. Do you have any?”

“Yes I can sell it to you, but what will you pay for it?”

She says, “I can give you anything you want.”

Then he said, “Bring your husband’s clothes.”

And she said, “OK.”

Then she brings all her husband’s clothes and gives them to him.

He gave her the ball and said, “This is cleverness.”

When she went home, her husband came and she said, “I bought cleverness!”

“What did you pay for it?”

“I paid all of your clothes.”

The husband was angry.