WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

An old Persian proverb says,

Thinking well is wise, planning well, wiser,

but doing well is the wisest and best of all.

In other words, thinking, planning, and coming up with ideas is smart.

But smartest of all is putting our ideas into action.

We're about to meet a man who puts his plan into action in a very wise and witty way.

I'm Rebecca Shear, and welcome to Circle Round, where story time happens all the time.

Today, our story is called The Donkeys Tale.

You'll find versions of this story from North Africa and the Middle

East, where it's one of many tales featuring a wise trickster you've met in several other

circle-round stories, Nasrudin. Some really great people came together to bring you our

version of this folktale, including Syrian-American rapper and poet Omar Offendom,

who has performed all over the world from the Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles, California,

to the FIFA World Cup festivities in Doha, Qatar.

So circle around, everyone.

For the donkeys tail.

One sunny morning in fall. Nostradine was outside doing chores. He mowed his lawn, he fed his donkey,

he was kneeling in his herb garden, filling a basket with fresh-picked mint when he heard a distressed voice.

Oh, Nathrudin, I need to help.

Nasrudein glanced up, and there was Hoda, the new art teacher at the local school.

Her eyes were teary, her lower lip was trembling, and her feet were bare.

...