Mulla Nasruddin's Fables - The Colt

On one very hot summer day in Turkey, Nasruddin was on a journey to a distant town. He's been walking for hours in the heat, and he was starting to become very tired.

After finding some shade beneath a tree, he opened up his palms and cried out to the sky "Oh Lord! Please, provide me with a horse to ride on, so I can bear my exhaustion as I make my way to my destination!"

A couple minutes later, Nasruddin noticed a soldier with a young colt walk towards him. He then said to Nasruddin, "You! My colt cannot bear the heat and is getting quite tired. How about you carry him on your back until we get to town?"

Nasruddin soon became nervous. How was he; an old, tired man, going to carry a colt to the next town? He tried to explain to the soldier his ailments, but the soldier refused to let him go. Nasruddin had no choice but to carry the colt on his back.

Upon entering the town, Nasruddin put the colt down. Afterwards, he fell to the ground due to how tired he was.

After a short period of gathering himself together, he returned back to the position of prayer he took on before. He cried out to the sky, "Lord, I simply asked for something I could ride on, not something to ride on me!"