Everyone in the teahouse was criticizing Wali. He was generally admitted to be useless; and each person had something to say against him.
‘That man’, opined the tailor, whose words were usually considered weighty, ‘is a cabbage.’
Everyone murmured his assent—except Nasrudin.
‘Not so, Aga,’ he said. ‘You must be fair. A cabbage can be boiled and eaten. What could Wali be turned into?’
The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin Idries Shah, Octagon Press
https://ninedonkeys.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/raw-material/