One day Nasreddin Hodja was promenading in the streets when he saw a dense crowd. Crying people gathered around a pond. There was a man drowning in the greenish water, only a brick throw from the bank. He now came up now submerged.
A lot of perplexed people were running about the bank, extending their hands to the drowning man and trying to grab him by his vest, but their hands did not reach him.
“Give your hand, give your hand!” they were crying. It looked as if the drowning man did not hear them. He even turned his back upon the rescuers and the intervals between his submerging and coming up were becoming longer and longer.  

Nasreddin Hodja was also amazed, which did not prevent him from giving thought to this situation, “It is very strange! Why doesn't he extend his arm? Is he a skilled diver who wants to win a bet? Then why is he wearing a vest, a very expensive vest? …”
Suddenly a good idea occurred to him. No rich man (and the drowning man was a rich moneylender) would ever give anything to another man. When the man came up again, possibly for the last time, Nasreddin Hodja cried loudly,
“Take,” and extended his hand to the drowning man.
The moneylender froze onto the extended hand and was rescued from drowning.