Nasrudin and a Dervish

Nasrudin was walking along a lonely road one moonlit night when he heard a snore
seemingly directly beneath his feet. Suddenly he experienced fear and was about to flee
when he tripped over a dervish lying in a pit which he had dug for himself, partly
underground.
"Who are you?" the Mulla stammered.
"I am a dervish, and this is my contemplation place."
Nasrudin replied, "You will have to let me share it. Your snoring frightened me out of my
wits, and I cannot continue any further this night."
"Take the other end of this blanket, then," said the dervish without much enthusiasm,
"and lie down here. Please be quiet, because I am keeping a vigil. It is a part of a
complicated series of exercises. Tomorrow I must change the pattern, and I cannot stand
any interruption."
Nasrudin fell asleep for a while. Then he woke up, very thirsty.
"I am thirsty," he told the dervish.
"Then go back down the road, where there is a stream."
"No,I am still afraid." replied Nasrudin.
"I shall go for you then," said the dervish. "After all, to provide water is a sacred
obligation in the East."
"No, please don't go for I am still afraid to be alone!"
"Take this knife, to defend yourself then," said the dervish.