Naseeruddin Hodja�s neighbour was in a fix. He had to head to town and didn't know whom to leave his sheep with. Looking around, he found there was only one person who seemed to be available and that was Naseeruddin Hodja. So he requested him to graze his flock of twenty sheep for a day.
�No problem�, said the Hodja. �I am free at present. You can leave the sheep safely with me�. The neighbour was a little nervous because the Hodja was unpredictable. One never knew what he would do next, but as the neighbour had no choice, he gave the Hodja instructions on where and how to graze the sheep. Finally, before he left he warned him, �Do not leave them unattended even for a moment because they may wander off.�
�Don�t worry�, said the Hodja, annoyed. �I have been looking after sheep much before you were born. Go ahead and finish your business in town and I shall do mine here�. Actually it had been a long time since the Hodja had tended sheep. But he wouldn�t reveal that to the neighbour.
Time generally passes very slowly while sheep graze. So as he got drowsy, the Hodja started to count the sheep. There were twenty of them. Hodja watched them chomp away the delicious green grass. Seeing them, he felt hungry too. He looked around to see if anyone could take over his job, but not a soul came along. Finally, unable to bear the hunger pangs, he left the sheep in the meadow and went home to eat.
Before he left, the Hodja instructed the sheep to stay in the meadow and graze to their fill. After eating his meal, the Hodja came back and decided he should do a head count to ensure that all the sheep were there. He turned to one side and counted ten sheep, and then he turned a little and counted ten more. So he thought there were twenty in all. Happy that he had done a good job and content that he had a full stomach, the Hodja went to sleep.
