مقلاة البخيل

Ibrahim needs a frying pan and asks a neighbour from Khurasan to lend him one. The neighbour says that his household once had a pan, but it was stolen. Ibrahim therefore borrows a pan from someone else and starts frying meat.

The first neighbour hears the cooking and smells the meat. Sounding angry, he asks why Ibrahim did not explain what he wanted the pan for. He says he would have lent it immediately for meat or fat. He had only feared that Ibrahim might use it for beans, because food without fat could burn the iron.

He then explains the advantage of lending a pan for meat: the fat would leave it in better condition than if it had stayed at home. His complaint exposes the problem with his first excuse. A pan supposedly lost to a thief is suddenly available when lending it seems useful to its owner.