One day the Hodja was at the presence of Timur when Timur's men brought in a soldier who was drunk as a skunk. They asked Timur how he should be punished.
`Hit him three hundred times with a cane!' ordered Timur. Upon hearing this harsh sentence, Nasreddin Hodja started to laugh.
`Hodja, Hodja! How dare you laugh?' Timur thundered, `What are you laughing at? Are you making fun of me?'
`Heaven forbid, Great Timur, I do not make fun of you.' Hodja explained, `I laugh because you either have never been beaten with a cane or you don't know how to count.'