One day, Hodja was coming back from the market, carrying yogurt in his hands. Behind him was his donkey, but it was carrying nothing.

His neighbor quickly jumped in, surprised:
— Hodja, you have a donkey but you’re walking! Why didn’t you ride it?

Hodja paused, looked at the donkey, then at the man, then back at the donkey, and said:
— If I ride the donkey, people say, “Oh, how cruel! Poor animal!”
— If I don’t ride it, they say, “What a fool! The donkey’s going empty!”

The neighbor scratched his head and asked:
— So, what did you do then?

Hodja laughed:
— I decided not to tire the donkey… but also not to tire the people!
— Let me walk, and they can carry on talking!