Behlool liked to visit the graveyards.  "People here are good friends," he used to say. "They do not backbite."

        Once, he sat in a corner of a graveyard and with a long heavy stick started probing some of the old skulls which lay scattered about.  Harun Rashid, the king, passed by and saw him.  Then he asked, "O Behlool!  What are you doing?"

        "Oh, nothing very important," said Behlool.  "I am just trying to find out whether the skulls belong to kings or paupers.  They are all the same."

        "And what is the stick for?" Harun asked.

        "Well, I'm measuring the earth."  Behlool replied.

        "Measuring the earth?  What are your findings?" Harun joked.

        "It is equal and the same, O King." Behlool retorted.  "Three arm lengths for me, in spite of my poverty and three arm lengths for you, in spite of your pomp and wealth."
 

Reference:
Pearls of Wisdom.  A String of Incidents in the History of Islam.  The World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities. Page 45.