HODJA STORIES
(excerpts from posts)
(If you want to retell any of the stories listed below, be sure to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain)

Biographical information on Nastradin/Nasrudin:
1) Try these sites:
http://www.sivrihisar.net
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html

2) There is a Nasruddin Hodja story in which he tries to save money by feeding his ass a handful less barley each day. When the ass still seemed content, he subtracted another handful. Soon it was eating less than half of what it used to get. It was quiet, but it didn't complain. Eventually, the Hodja offered it only one handful of barley a day, and the ass refused to touch it. Before long, it was dead. "What bad luck!" said the Hodja. "Just when I was succeeding in teaching my ass true mortification of the flesh, death had to intervene and spoil it."
[Taken from Charles Downing, Tales of the Hodja, Oxford UP, 1964.]
Vicky D.

3) From the introduction to Idries Shah's book The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin / The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin: "Many countries claim Mulla Nasrudin as a native, though few have gone so far as Turkey in exhibiting his grave and holding an annual Nasrudin Festival . . . at Eskishehir, reputed place of his birth. The Greeks. . . regard Nasrudin quips as part of their own folklore. In the Middle Ages Nasrudin tales were used to deride odious authority. More recently the Mulla became a People's hero of the Sovieet Union. Nasrudin shades off into the Arab figure of Joha, and appears in the folklore of Sicily".

4) From the introduction to Tales of the Hodja, retold by Charles Downing: "Nasreddin Hodja is one of the most celebrated personalities of the Middle East, the Balkans, and Greece. . . . It is difficult to decide whether the Hodja was ever a real person. The Turks treat him as a historical personage and display his mausoleum at Ak-Shehir . . . but the date 386 (equivalent to A.D. 993) inscribed there as the date of his birth, is certainly false. One tradition holds that he lived at the time of the Seljuk sultan Ala-ed-Din in the thirteenth century, and another that he lived in the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries during the reigns of the early Ottoman sultans. This latter view, which enables the Hodja to be represented as coming into contact with Timur Leng (Timur the Lame, or Tamurlaine), has perhaps the widest currency.

"Stories now attached to the Hodja were formerly told about an Arab called Djuha who is mentioned by Persian writers as early as the eleventh century, and it may be that "Hodja" is a corruption of his name - that is to say that the unfamiliaar name was renderd by a familiar title. The words and deeds of Djuha were quoted by the thirteenth-century Persian mystic, Rumi, as illustrations of his philosophy. . .

"A possible answer to the question as to whether Nasreddin Hodja existed or not is, 'yes, many times over' . . ."

4) From the preface to Effendi and the Pregnant Pot: Uygur Folktales from China by Primerose Gigliesi, Robert C. Friend. These droll satirical stories belong to the folktale heritage of the Uygurs, a Muslim minority nationality numbering some seven million who inhabit Sinkiang in northwest China. . . .

"The tales are also part of the oral folklore of the entire Muslim world. They are the result of that strange and wonderful capacity of stories to pass from person to pperson, travel from one country to another and, over the centuries, to spread to entire continents."

5) There's a good site or two in my storytelling directory. Have a look in the A Storytelling Miscellany subsection of the Storytelling Links page of my site below, and you'll find it / them, probably under Nasruddin or the Hodja. I remember a Turkish site with biographical info, given in an entertaining way, with pictures.
http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story

75 Hodja stories translated by Priscilla Howe (below)
Collected stories of Nasruddin Hodja, translated and retold by Priscilla Howe © 2001. You can reach her at:
http://www.storyteller.net/tellers/phowe/

1. Preaching in the mosque (VV p.209)
Nastradin Khodzha said to the people who were gathered at the mosque, "Do you know what I'm going to say?" "No, we don't know."
"Well, if you don't know, I have nothing to say to you."
The next time, he asked them again, "Do you know what I'm going to say?"
"Yes, we know!"
"Well, if you already know, I have nothing to say to you."
The next time he asked again, "Do you know what I'm going to say?"
Half of the congregation said "We know" and the other half said, "We don't know." And so Nastradin said, "Let those of you who know tell those of you who don't!"

2. Blessings of Allah (VV p.209)
The Khodzha taught his children that whenever he sneezed, they should clap and say "Blessings of Allah!" And so the children did this every time. Once, the Khodzha got his children to lower him down into the well to get some water. They let him down, he filled the bucket and yelled to the children to pull him up. As they were pulling him up, just as his head came out of the well, he sneezed. The children immediately clapped--didn't he teach them to do so--and cried out "Blessings of Allah!" Of course they dropped the rope. He fell all the way to the bottom and said, "From now on, if I sneeze or if I cough, DON'T clap!"

3. Who do you believe, me or the donkey? (VV p.210)
Saradin Odzha's neighbor went over to Saradin's house to ask if he could borrow the donkey. Odzha said, "I don't have a donkey here."
Just then the donkey began to bray in the shed. The neighbor said, "Look, Odzha, your donkey IS here!" Odzha replied, "Who do you believe, me or the donkey?!"

4.Nastradin Khodzha dries grain on a rope (VV p. 210)
Nastradin Khodzha's neighbor went to borrow some rope.
"Khodzha," he said, "give me your donkey's rope to go to the mill to grind wheat. Khodzha replied, "I was about to dry my wheat on the rope, so I can't give it to you."
The neighbor said, "Khodzha, how can you dry wheat on a rope?
Khodzha answered, "Hey, don't you get it, that I don't want to lend you the rope? Since I don't want to help you out, I can dry wheat on the rope!"
[From Mary Grace Ketner:
Could the grain on the rope story mean something like this?
Neighbor: Khodzha, let me use your donkey's rope to go to the mill to grind wheat.
Khodzha: I can't, I have to dry my wheat on it.
Neighbor: Why do you have to dry your wheat on your donkey's rope?
Khodzha: So I won't have to lend it to my neighbor.]

5. When will the world end, 1 (VV p. 210)
The people asked Nasurdin "Tell us when the world will end. When will the second coming be?"
He told them, "When my wife dies, that will be the end of half the world. When I die, the whole world will end."
When Nasurdin's wife died, the people waited, waited, but half the world didn't end. They said to him, "But Nasurdin, your wife died and the world didn't end!"
He answered, "For me, half the world ended! When I die, my whole world will end!"

6. When will the world end, 2 (VV p. 210)
Some time ago, the press put out a lie, that the world would end. As soon as they heard this, that the world would end, the people decided that no one but the Odzha could tell them when the world would end. They went to him and said, "Odzha, will the world end soon?"
He said, "I can't explain this to each of you one at a time. Gather everybody into the street and I'll answer your question."
When they gathered, he brought his table [possibly a lectern?] out in front of the people and began. "When old granny [his wife, I think] dies, half the world will be over. When I die, the whole world will end."

7. The kettle gives birth, I (VV p. 211)
Stradin Odzha admired his neighbor's kettle, which was big and beautiful, so he decided to take this kettle and not to return it. He went to him and said, "Neighbor, I need to borrow your kettle."
He gave it to Odzha. Odzha took the kettle, and promised to return it the next day, maybe the day after.
At length the fellow went to his house and called for him, "Hey, neighbor, why don't you bring my kettle back?"
He said, "Wait a bit, friend, your kettle was in a delicate condition, so I waited for her. She gave birth to a little kettle, but it's still too small and can't walk. As soon as it can walk, I'll bring it back to you."
Finally he took the kettle and another little one --could the first kettle have really given birth!--back to the neighbor. The neighbor was amazed.
The second time, Stradin Odzha went and asked again to borrow the kettle. And the neighbor was pleased to lend it, so he could have both the mother and baby kettle. He waited quite a while, and finally went to Stradin and asked, "Why don't you bring me back my kettle, neighbor?"
"Well, that kettle was old and sick, and she died. I looked for you so we could bury her, but you weren't around and finally I found some other people and we buried her together, because the corpse was starting to rot."
The neighber was angry and took the matter before a judge. This judge called Stradin Odzha and asked, "Why did you take that kettle as your own?"
He answered, "The kettle was old and sick, and she died. I looked for my neighbor to help bury her, but he wasn't around. I found some other people to help and we buried her."
"Is it possible," asked the judge, "that a kettle can die?"
"Yes! As long as a kettle can give birth to a baby kettle, it can also die. Whatever is born eventually dies."
And so he was given the kettle.

8. The kettle gives birth, II (VV p. 212)
Nastradin Odzha was very poor and didn't have a kettle to heat water even for washing. He went to his neighbor's house, a rich man, and said, "Hey, neighbor, give me your kettle to heat water to wash dishes.
The neighbor didn't trust him to return the kettle, but lent it to him anyway. After two or three days, the Odzha gave him back the kettle, along with a smaller kettle. The neighbor, on seeing the small kettle, asked him, "The big kettle is mine, but why are you bringing this little one too?"
Nastradin said, "Your kettle gave birth to the other one!"
He said, "How true, I hadn't noticed that she was pregnant, but she must truly have given birth."
He figured the Odzha was some kind of fool, and took both kettles home.
Two or three weeks passed before the Odzha went back to ask to borrow the kettle again. The neighbor gave it to him gladly, since he thought the Odzha would come back with another little kettle. This was all well and good, but the Odzha took his time returning the kettle. At last the neighbor went to ask, "Hey, neighbor, what's up with the kettle? You took it but you haven't returned it."
Nastradin said, "Neighbor, I didn't dare tell you that the kettle died last night."
The neighbor was amazed, "How can a kettle die?!"
The Odzha said, "On this earth, whatever is living, whatever was born, can die. How can you believe that a kettle can give birth to a little kettle, and now you can't believe that the kettle can die?"

9. The cauldron gave birth to a bowl (VV p. 212)
Nastradin Odzha borrowed a cauldron from a friend. When he returned it, he put a copper bowl inside the cauldron. His friend said, "What is this bowl doing in the cauldron?"
Nastradin said, "Oh, your cauldron gave birth to it."
So the friend took the bowl along with the cauldron.
Another time, Nastradin took the cauldron. The friend was in no hurry to get it back, thinking "If I wait, maybe this time I'll get a frying pan." But Nastradin didn't return the cauldron. At long last, the friend went to get it back. He asked why Nastradin hadn't returned it.
"Oh dear, your cauldron died."
"How could it die? Can a cauldron die?!"
"Well, if it can't die, then how can it give birth?"
They went to a judge. The friend told the judge that Nastradin hadn't returned his cauldron. The judge forgave Nastradin, because the friend had taken the bowl anyway.

10. Nastradin Khodzha's cloak (VV p. 213)
Nastradin Khodzha lived in the village right next to a field. In the summer, a gypsy camp took over the field. At night the fires glowed, there was music, dancing, noise, hullabaloo. Late one night, when the village was sleeping, there was a huge brawl, the sound of guns going off, enormous racket.
Nastradin Khodzha, who was sleeping in his underwear, rushed out to help. He said, "What's going on? Are you killing each other?!"
All around him, old people were cleaning up, others were packing their bags--the caravan was getting ready to leave. Just then Nastradin Khodzha realized that he didn't have his warm cloak. He heard someone yell "Get along" to the donkeys. The caravan left and nobody was left.
Nastradin Khodzha said, "Oh, now I understand, all that noise was a fight over my cloak!"
And that's how it happens sometimes. Sometimes one sees a wedding, sometimes a funeral. When a man tries to do something good, sometimes he suffers instead.

11. Respect for the coat (VV p. 213)
Nasradin Odzha was a judge. One morning, he went into a cafe. He was dressed simply, like a peasant. He greeted the Turks sitting in the cafe, but nobody answered his greetings. He said to himself, "Oh, my old mother [like mamma mia!], this won't do!" He went home and dresed in a new fur coat, then returned to the cafe. He greeted the Turks and they answered his greetings in Turkish. They called to the cafe owner, "Make a cup of coffee for Nasradin Odzha!" He made a cup and brought it to Nasradin Odzha, who began to pour it all over the left side of his coat.
Another said, "Make a cup of coffee for Nasradin Odzha!" He made a cup and brought it to Nasradin Odzha, who began to pour it all over the right side of his coat. The Turks said, "Hey, Nasradin Odzha, what are you doing? We're treating you to coffee, and you're pouring it all over your coat!"
Nasradin said, "Well, you paid my coat more respect than you paid to me.
I came in here earlier, and you didn't even see me. I went home, changed clothes, came back and you paid respect to my coat. So, I figured the coffee was for my coat, not me."

12. The clothes get respect (VV p. 213)
One day Nastradin Odzha went into a cafe, in his old work clothes. He said to one and all, "Salaam Aleikhom." The response should have been "Aleikhom Salaam," but nobody answered because of the way he was dressed. He stayed for a while, then got up and left. He went home and dressed in his newest clothes--he had a brand new blue robe--and returned to the cafe, entering and saying, "Salaam Aleikhom."
As he entered, still by the door, everyone stood up and answered, "Aleikhom Salaam, Khodzha efendi! [efendi is roughly "sir" or "master"] Then they ordered a coffee from the proprietor. Khodzha took the coffee, opened his collar and poured it into his clothes. When the others saw that, they said, "But what are you doing, Khodzha? Why are you pouring your coffee all over the place? Look what's happening to your clothes!"
He said, "I'm pouring this because your respect wasn't meant for me but for my clothes. I came in here earlier, said hello, but you didn't even notice me. But when you saw me with my new clothes, then you noticed my greeting!"

13. Nastradin Odzha saws down the branch on which he's standing, I (VV p. 214)
Once Nastradin Odzha climbed up a tree with a ladder, propping the ladder up on a branch. He began to saw. A man passing by said, "Nastradin Odzha, what are you doing? You'll cut that branch and fall!"
And he kept walking.
That fellow was Clever Peter. Nastradin Odzha sawed, sawed, and sure enough, the ladder he was standing on fell. He said to himself, "That man predicted that I would fall. Surely such a wise man can tell me how many more years I'll live. I'll catch up to him and ask."
He caught up with Clever Peter. "You, there! Since you knew that I was going to fall, maybe you can tell me how many years I'll live?"
"Well, now. You have nine donkeys. Load them up, take them to the top of a hill, and begin to count how many times they fart--that's how many years you'll live."
So, Nastradin Odzha did just what the man suggested. He took his donkeys up on the hill and counted the number of times they farted. Thus he knew how long he would live. When it came to the year he knew he would die, according to the donkey farts, he dug himself a grave, lay down in it, and waited for his soul to die. At about this time, a camel driver went by, with his camels' bells clanking. When Nastradin Odzha heard the bells, he stood up to see what the noise was. The camels saw him and were so scared, they turned over their burdens. The camel driver grabbed him and whacked him, hard, and went on his way. Nastradin Odzha picked himself up and went back to the village. When he got back, the people asked him, "Nastradin, weren't you going to die? Did you die? What's it like in that world?"
He answered, "There's everything in that world, everything beautiful, but one bad thing--the camel drivers hit really hard!"

14. Nastradin Odzha saws off the branch on which he is standing, II (VV p. 215)
Nastrazhin Odzha had nine donkeys. One day he took his donkeys to the forest to cut wood. On the way to the forest, he got up on one of the donkeys, counted the animals and came up with eight. He got off that donkey, counted them, and came up with nine. He got up again, counted again, eight, when he got down, nine. He arrived at the forest--on eight-nine donkeys.
He went into the forest and decided which tree to cut down. He climbed up in it and began to cut a branch, but it was the one he was sitting on. Some goats heard the noise, and went in that direction, thinking maybe the noise was something they could eat. The goatherd came with them and when he saw Nastrazhin, he said, "You'll fall out of that tree!"
Nastrazhin said, "I've fooled the whole world, and you think you can fool me? Like I don't know how to saw a tree down?!"
Just then the branch cracked and Nastrazhin fell to the ground and was knocked unconscious.
The goatherd, who was scared by this, took that moment to light a cigarette, to calm himself down. Nastrazhin raised himself up and said, "Since you knew that I would fall from the tree, you probably know when I'll die.
The goatherd took out his tobacco tin and began to leaf through his cigarette papers, saying, "You have nine donkeys, nine lives. When the last donkey farts, your life will end."
Nastrazhin loaded the donkeys up with the wood and set off for home. On leaving, one donkey farted. Nastrazhin said to himself, "I've still got eight lives." A little later, another farted. And again, he said, "I've still got seven lives." After a bit, he said, I've still got six lives."
As the others farted, he said, "I've still got five lives...I've still got four lives...I've still got three lives...I've still got two lives."
The last donkey held out until they were home. While Nastrazhin was unloading the donkeys, the last one farted. Nastrazhin said to his wife, "Give me a shovel and a pick, I'm dying, I'll go dig my grave, give penance to the people."
He took the shovel and the pick and set out. On his way he ran into some people. They asked where he was going with a shovel and a pick.
He answered, "I'm dying, so I'm going to dig my grave, give suffering to the people."
So he chose a place at the crossroads and dug his grave. He lay down and waited to die. But he didn't die!
After a while, a camel driver came by, taking pottery to market. The first camel had a bell. Nastrazhin raised his head to see what was going on, and startled the lead camel. That camel spooked the others and all the pottery was broken. The camel driver looked around, saw the fresh-dug grave, came closer and noticed that there was a person in it.
He said, "What the heck are you doing?!"
Nastrazhin said, "I have died!"
"Get out of there, then, come into heaven!" said the camel driver and began to beat Nastrazhin with his stick. "Now when you go back, you tell your friends and neighbors that in this world there is a lot of evil, a lot of beatings."

15. Stradin Odzha saws the branch on which he's sitting, III (VV p.216)
Once Stradin Odzha climbed up in a tree and began to saw the branch on which he was sitting. A man going by said, "But Odzha, what are you doing? When you saw through that branch, you'll fall to the ground!"
"You know much! How do you know that I'll fall?"
The fellow kept walking.
Stradin Odzha went back to sawing, until the branch broke and he fell to ground. He jumped up and said to himself, "That man knew I was going to fall, so certainly he'd know how many years I'm going to live." He went to find the man, to ask how long he'd have to live.
The man answered, "How should I know how many years you're going to live? I don't know!"
"Why don't you know? You knew that I would fall, so I know you can predict the future."
The fellow turned to him and said, "Take one donkey and load him up with two kilograms of wheat and take him up on Khodzha hill. However many times that donkey farts, that's how many years you'll live."
So Stradin Odzha took a donkey and loaded him up. The donkey couldn't get up the hill, so Odzha went to ask the fellow, "What should I do if the donkey can't carry that load?"
"Shove a hot pepper up his ass!"
Stradin shoved a hot pepper up the donkey's ass. The donkey kicked and began to run. That was fine, but now Stradin couldn't hear how many times the donkey farted. He went back to the man who said, "Shove that pepper up your own ass, and you'll be able to hear!"
He did that. It was fine, but he outran the donkey and still couldn't hear. And so he died.

16. Nastradin Khodzha builds a bread oven (VV p. 217)
Nasradin took it into his head to build an oven. But when he had done so, a man came up and said, "Nasradin, you built a nice oven, but the door shouldn't be that way."
"What way?"
"It shouldn't be on that side."
So Nasradin knocked the oven down and rebuilt it as the man had advised.
Another man came along and said, "Nasradin, nice oven you have here, but it should be turned around."
So, once again, he knocked it down and rebuilt it. And so along came a third advisor, and a fourth. Finally, Nasradin built the oven on wheels.
A man came along and said, "Nasradin, this is a good oven, but the door should be over here instead."
Nasradin said, "Is that so?" and he turned it so it faced the direction the man suggested. Another man came along and told him that it should face another direction, and again he turned it. And in this way he always did what others wanted.

17. Nastradin Khodzha builds a house (VV p. 217)
Nastradin Khodzha built himself a house. The neighbors came over and one said, "Khodzha, I reckon that you should have built this house facing in this direction."
Nastradin destroyed the house and began to build as the neighbor suggested. Another neighbor came along, "Hey, Khodzha, what are you doing? Don't you remember how hard the wind blows from that direction?
You'll have to turn the house in this direction."
Again he destroyed what he had built and began again, facing the house in the other direction. Another man came and gave Nastradin the benefit of his great wisdom, concerning where the house should face. Nastradin began again. Finally, when he realized that he couldn't come out ahead in this game, he began to build his house on top of a cart.
The neighbors came along and said, "Our Khodzha has gone crazy!"
Nastradin built his house this way, in order to please everybody.

18. Nastratin Khodzha's ram (VV p. 218)
Nastratin had a beautiful ram. The wise people in the village wanted to eat this ram, and said to Nastratin, "Nastratin, lets go up and slaughter your ram, for the world will end tomorrow. You roast the ram, we'll bring the drinks."
Nastratin told them to come back, dressed in their best clothes. They came back, all dressed up, but took their clothes off to bathe. While the people were down at the river, Nastratin stayed behind to roast the ram. He took all the clothes the villagers had left on the bank and burned them up. When the people came back, they said, "Nastratin, where are our clothes?"
He said, "I burned them up. What do we need clothes for? Isn't the world going to end tomorrow? We came into this world naked, we'll leave naked."

19. The desire of Nastradin Odzha (VV p. 218)
One morning, the Odzha, as usual, entered the cafe. This morning, however, his head was wrapped up. When the others in the cafe saw him, they asked what had happened to him.
"Well, it has to do with a desire."
"What desire?"
"I saw how the cow's horns were twisted, and I wondered if I might be able to squeeze through them. I wanted to try it. I squeezed through, but the cow leapt up and hooked me on its horns. I fell off on my head, and there you have it, my desire to see if I could do that disappeared.

20. The cow's head in the jar (VV p. 218)
A poor peasant had one calf. He also had a huge earthen jar. One day the calf put its head in the jar and couldn't get out. The man went to Sarandi Odzha and explained the situation with the calf, and asked for advice on what to do. Sarandi Odzha said, "Slaughter the calf, break the jar, get the head out and bring it to me for the advice I'm giving you, and eat the rest of the meat yourself."
The peasant slaughtered the calf, broke the jar, got the head out and took it to Sarandi Odzha for the advice and ate the rest of the meat.
And that is how the man was left with neither the calf nor the jar.

21. Between raindrops (VV p. 218)
Stradin was at work when it began to rain. Quickly, he took off his clothes, put them under him on the donkey and continued on his way, completely naked. As he came into the village, the rain stopped and he got dressed again. A man asked him, "Hey, Stradin, how come you're dry when it rained so hard? How did you keep from getting soaked?
"My donkey walked this way, that way, between raindrops, so I didn't get wet."
"What a wonderful donkey! Would you sell him?"
"Give me a hundred gold pieces and you can have him."
The man counted out one hundred gold pieces and they made the deal.
Afterwards, that fellow took the donkey out in the field. It began to rain, and the man got completely soaked. He went straight to Stradin and said, "Why did you lie to me? That donkey doesn't dodge the raindrops!"
Stradin answered, "You clearly don't know how to steer him."
"Oh yeah? You do it, so I can see how YOU steer!"
"Okay, but I might have forgotten exactly how..."

22. Nastradin Khodzha takes plums to the kadiya (a judge, with a religious role) (VV p. 219)
Nastratin Khodzha wanted to visit the kadiya, to take him some plums. He put three plums in a bowl and started out. On his way, he ran into a fellow who asked him where he was going.
"I'm taking the kadiya some plums."
"Why are you taking him three? Take him two, that's plenty!" (At this time, plums were rare in this place.)
The Khodzha ate one plum. He ran into another fellow on his way who also asked him where he was going.
"I'm taking the kadiya some plums."
"Why are you taking him two? Take one, that's plenty!"
The Khodzha ate another and took the kadiya just one plum.
As he entered the kadiya's house, the kadiya said, "What's that, Nastratin Khodzha?"
"It's a plum, kadiya, sir."
"How is it eaten?"
"Just like this!" And Nastratin Khodzha grabbed that last plum and ate it right up.

23. The defective mule (VV p. 219)
Nastratin Odzha went to sell his little donkey at the market. The donkey was beautiful. On the way, Odzha ran into several people also on their way to the market. They asked him, "Odzha, where are you going with that donkey?"
"I'm going to sell him."
"That donkey is extra special, except that its tail is too long, that's all. If you don't sell it, it's because of that tail. If that tail weren't so long, you could sell that donkey for a high price--people would leap to buy that donkey."
He said, "Well, if that's the only defect, that's easy to fix."
Nastratin cut the donkey's tail off and put it in his saddlebag.
He continued on his way to the market. When people saw that beautiful donkey of the Odzha, they gathered around and said, "Very handsome donkey you have there. It would be perfect, if only it had its tail."
"Look here, we're going to have some wheeling and dealing, I tell you what! The tail is no problem, I've got it right here in my saddlebag!"

24. The donkey's head in silk (VV p. 220)
Nastratin Khodzha found a donkey's head, whole. He bought five oki (measure of weight) of silk, wrapped the head up, and took it to market to sell. He sold it to a grocer, as a length of silk. But the grocer said, "This weighs a lot, Khodzha! Is there something else here?"
"What would there be? A donkey's head?!"
The grocer put the silk on a shelf. After quite a while, it still hadn't sold. The store began to smell, and the grocer realized that the smell was coming from the silk. He checked--yes, indeed, there it was, a donkey's head. Not long after, he ran into the Khodzha.
"Khodzha, I can't believe you sold me a donkey's head!"
The Khodzha answered, "I didn't lie to you. Didn't I tell you what was in there?"

25. Nastradin Khodzha's donkey (VV p. 220)
Nasradin Khozha was driving ten donkeys. He had gotten up on one of them, and when he had left the village, he decided to count them to make sure he hadn't lost any. He counted, counted, but only came up with nine. He got down off the one he was riding to look for the lost donkey.
He counted again and came up with ten. He got back up on a donkey, counted them, and came up again with just nine. And then he said, "Oh, blast! I must be one of the donkeys!"

26. Nastradin Khodzha's ugly wife (VV p. 221)
Stratin Khodzha decided to take a second wife, because the Koran allowed men to have more than one wife. He heard about a widow who had quite a lot of money but who was incredibly ugly. Because of the money, he decided to marry her. He communicated this by way of several other people, and she agreed. After she became his wife, as was the custom, she asked her husband to whom in the family she should present herself and to whom she should not present herself. The Khodzha said, "You have my permission to present yourself to everybody, just hide yourself from me."

27. Nastradin Khodzha finds the lost donkey (VV p. 221)
A peasant lost a donkey, so he took a rope and went in search of it. He ran into Nastratin Khodzha, who asked him where he was going.
"I'm looking for my donkey."
The Khodzha said, "Come with me, we'll look for the donkey together."
The Khodzha took the peasant into a pub and said to the men gathered around, "Okay, who among you doesn't smoke, and drinks neither coffee nor rakiia?
One man answered. The Khodzha then pointed at him and said to the peasant, "Put the rope on this one, he's certainly a donkey!"

28. The road might go on (VV p. 221)
Once Nastradin Odzha was going down the street followed by a crowd of children.
They wanted to steal his slippers. He came to a tree, decided to climb it, and so put his slippers in the pockets of his overcoat. The children were amazed and said, "Nastradin Odzha, why are your shoes in the tree?
How is it that you took them off?"
Nastradin answered, "How do you know, children, that once I have climbed the tree, my road will not go on from there?"
[Here’s Mary Grace Ketner’s interpretation:
Nastradin Odzha was walking down the road followed by a crowd of barefoot ragamuffins who were eyeing his beautiful slippers. To escape the procession, he put his slippers in his pocket and climbed up a tree.
"Odjha!" they called. "You don't need slippers to climb a tree.
Why don't you throw them down and let one of us dear children wear them?"
"I'm not going to do that," Nastradin Odzha called back. "There might be more road at the top of the tree, and, if so, I will need my slippers again."

29. Nastradin Khodzha at the barber (VV p 222)
Nasradin Odzha went to a barbershop for a shave. The barber lathered him up and began to shave. He nicked Nasradin, and applied a bit of cotton.
He nicked him again, again applied cotton. And again. That side of Nasradin's face was covered in cotton. So Nasradin said to the barber, "You can leave the other side--I think I'll sow flax instead of cotton."
He left the barbershop.

30. Nastradin Khodzha and the thief, I (VV p. 222)
Nastradin Khodzha sat in his room in the middle of the night, leaning back and smoking a pipe. He saw a shadow of a man coming toward the house. The man came into the house. The Khodzha saw him lift up a rug.
He recognized the man, but didn't call out, didn't yell at him. In the morning, the Khodzha gathered a crowd and took them to his house. He gave each one of them something from his house--to one he gave a chair, to another a plate, to a third the stove, and so on until there was nothing left. There were at least 30 people there. Then he took the people to the house of the thief. He knocked at the window. The thief came to answer.
"What do you want, Khodzha? Where are you taking all those house furnishings?"
"We're bringing them to your house."
"Why?"
The Khodzha answered, "Of course to help you move all my furnishings to your house. Last night you took my rug, so I thought that you wanted me to move in with you. I got all these good people to help bring everything over here, so you wouldn't have to go to too much trouble."
The thief put his hands on his head and said, "Oh, Khodzha, forgive me, I didn't know that you saw me!"
"You good-for-nothing! From now on, stop trying to be a thief--don't you know that thieves always get caught?"

31. Nastradin Khodzha and the thief, II (VV p. 222)
Nastradin Odzha went for a walk around town one evening. When he got home, he saw that there was a light on in his house, and a thief was gathering all his belongings. He said to himself, "That must be a thief. If I go inside, he'll attack me." So he waited outside, waited and watched. When the thief had everything he wanted, he left, walking up the street. Nastradin Odzha followed him. The thief turned suddenly and saw Nastradin. "What are you doing?"
Nastradin answered, "I'm moving house. I see that you're moving all my belongings!"
"No, that's not true!"
"Really, if that's not true, then give me back my things."
And the thief saw that he was caught and returned all the belongings to Nastradin's house.

32. Nastradin Khodzha beats the old bull (VV p. 223)
Nastradin Khozha was plowing the meadow and every time the furrow came out crooked, he beat the old bull. Somebody passing by asked him, "Hey, Khozha, why are you beating that old bull? Can't you see that it's the young one who's making the furrow crooked?"
"I'm beating the old bull because he's the one who teaches the young one bad habits."
And that's how it is with people. Often young people learn bad practices from old people.

33. Nastradin Khodzha, man of principle (VV p. 223)
Once when Nastradin Khozha was lying down, a mouse ran right through his moustache. Furious, he jumped up, grabbed his gun and got ready to shoot the mouse. His wife said, "Khozha, leave that mouse in peace! It was passng by, passing by, and what happens? Just for passing by, you'll kill it?"
Khozha answered, "Once is enough, woman, once is enough! Look, others will start and then where will it end?"
This story also goes for women...
[I just translate these; I don't necessarily agree! PH]

34. Nastradin Khodzha and the unfair judge, I (VV p. 223)
Nastradin Odzha had a jackdaw and went hunting with it. Whatever the jackdaw landed on, he took. Nastradin wanted to try a little experiment with the judge. At one point, the jackdaw landed on a buffalo cow belonging to a poor man. Nastradin took that buffalo cow. The owner took him before the judge. Nastradin went to the judge and said, "Sir, my jackdaw landed on that buffalo cow. How about this: you say that the cow is mine and I'll give you a can of buffalo butter.
The judge decreed that the cow belonged to Nastradin Odzha. Nastradin Odzha took a big can and filled it with cowshit, with a layer of buffalo butter on top. He took this to the judge.
The judge had guests at his house, so he told his maid to fix something tasty to eat. "Use the butter from Nastradin Odzha, it's of good quality."
The maid took one spoonful, two spoonfuls, spooned out the cowshit and presented it to the guests. The next day, the judge called Nastradin Odzha.
"Why did you give me cowshit to eat!?"
"Well, didn't you already eat some cowshit the other day when you judged in my favor, when you decreed that the buffalo cow was mine? What kind of rogue laws are you using? Could a jackdaw really go hunting? What on earth would that poor man do without his buffalo cow?"
And at that, he returned the buffalo cow to the poor man.

35. Nastradin Khodzha and the unfair judge, II (VV p. 223)
Stradin Ozha was a hunter. He took his gun out to the fields to shoot rabbits. He used a crow as his hunting dog. As he went along, he saw a buffalo cow and its calf in a meadow. The crow flew landed on the buffalo cow, so Stradin Ozha took it. The owner of the cow asked for it back but Stradin Ozha refused, saying, "My dog retrieved it, it's mine."
The owner took Stradin Ozha to court. "Judge, my dog, this crow, retrieved this buffalo cow. Let me go free, give me the buffalo cow, and I'll give you a whole pot of butter."
The judge let Stradin Ozha go free. He got a pot and filled it with shit, with about two fingers of butter on top. This he took to the judge. The judge tasted a bit of the butter, then saw the shit, got angry and called Stradin Odzha.
"Stradin Ozha, why did you trick me, promising me butter but delivering shit?"
"Judge, you'd already tasted shit when you judged in my favor about the buffalo. Could a crow really retrieve a buffalo?"
And the judge couldn't answer this.

36. Khitur Petur is more clever (VV p. 308)
Saradin Odzha and Itur Petur constantly tried to outwit each other.
Saradin Odzha climbed up onto a balcony of a house and saw that Itur Petur was coming up the same street. He pulled out a coin and, watching Itur Petur, dropped it on the ground right in Petur's path, thinking Petur would look up and see that he'd been tricked. Itur Petur saw the money, picked it up without a word and continued on his way.

37. Nastradin Khodzha eats the bones, too (VV 294)
Khitur Petur and Stratin Khodzha were in town and decided to get a bite to eat. They went into an inn for lunch. Khitur Petur asked the innkeeper, "What do you have on the menu?"
"We have this and that."
"Fine, bring me a meal, one portion please."
The Khodzha said, "I'll have the same."
As they ate, Khitur Petur left the bones from the meat to the side.
Stratin Khodzha put his bones over in Khitur Petur's pile of bones.
When they were done, Khitur Petur waved the innkeeper over to pay the bill. After he paid, the Khodzha said, "And what do I owe?"
The innkeeper said, "You had the same meal, so you owe the same."
Stratin Khodzha got a stubborn look on his face. "Why is mine as much as his? Look at all the bones! Clearly Khitur Petur had much more meat than I did."
Khitur Petur said to the Khodzha, "Pay! I'm not a dog like you, who eats even the bones!"
The innkeeper grabbed him by the beard and said, "Pay, Khodzha!" And the Khodzha paid.

38. Are there more women than men on earth? (VV p. 292)
Nastradin Odzha and Itur Petur were always trying to outwit each other.
Itur Petur said once that there were more women than men on earth, while the Odzha insisted that there were more men than women. They were at an impasse until Itur Petur said, "There are men obey everything women say, and we'll count them over with the women, therefore there are more women."
And it is still this way. There are women who will boss around their husbands, their brothers, their other relatives and their neighbors.

39. Nasrudin Hodzha and the beggar (VV p.153)
One day, Nasrudin was sitting upstairs in his house when he heard somebody knocking at the door downstairs. He opened the door and asked, "What do you want?"
The man said, "Come down, I'd like to talk to you."
So Nasrudin went downstairs.
"I'm a poor man, I've come to ask for a bit of money, perhaps some food."
Nasrudin led him inside, led him upstairs. When they were upstairs, he said, "God bless you, but I have nothing to give."
The beggar was confused, "Why did you lead me inside and up the stairs to tell me that? You could have told me downstairs."
"And why did you ask that I come downstairs to begin with? You could have told me your business before I made the trip!"

40. Nasrudin Hodzha never lies (AI p. 194)
Once Nasrudin Hodzha was asked how old he was. "Forty." After five or six years, he was asked again. "Forty." The man asking laughed and said, "But wasn't it five or six years ago that you told me you were forty?"
Nastradin Hodzha answered, "Don't you know that good and honest men stand by their speech? If I said there was only one God, and then after twenty years told you differently, wouldn't that be wrong? I stand by what I say. I'm forty."

41. I thought you had a toothache (AI p. 191)
Nasrudin had a terrible toothache. As he walked down the street he heard a terrible scream. "What is it, my good friend?"
"I've just been bitten by a snake!"
Nasrudin said, "Oh, I thought maybe you had a toothache."

42. Nastradin Khodzha is calm (VV p. 228)
Nastradin Khodzha's house was on fire. His neighbor said, "Khodzha, your house is on fire, go and put it out!"
"Let it burn," he said calmly, "I've got the key in my pocket."

43. Timur-Lenk and Nasrudin-Hodza (AI p. 114)
One day Timur-Lenk called on Nasrudin-Hodza, because he had heard how clever the Hodza was. Timur-Lenk gave him a problem to solve, to prove how very clever he was--or not.
"Listen, Hodza, I have a beautiful, sweet cow. I love this cow so much I don't want to see her suffer when she's slaughtered. It occurred to me that I'd like her to know the Koran before she dies. I want you to teach her at least the Kulhuvallahu [a part of the Koran?]--I'll give you three days to do so. If you don't, I'll cut your head off like a chicken!
Hodza felt the weight of this burden. He shrugged his shoulders, nodded his head, and led the cow away. On the way, he tried to think of something, anything, that would save his neck. Nothing occurred to him.
When he woke the next morning, he went straight to Timur-Lenk.
"Why are you here? You still have a couple more days," said Timur-Lenk.
"I've been working hard, but I wanted to make you a proposition. You know how very quick, how bright your cow is? She has shown a real interest in the poetry of Hafiz [14th century Persian poet]. The task you gave me yesterday was so small, I thought maybe you could give me another forty days to read the whole Koran--then I think we could make a new Hafiz of her."
And so the Hodza showed Timur-Lenk how very clever he could be.
Timur-Lenk began to laugh. He was so pleased with the Hodza's solution to the problem, he said, "I'll give you that cow! Finally I've met my match!"
Hodza wished Timur-Lenk good day and went home with his prize.

44. Can a man bite his own ear? (VV p. 229)
Nastradin Odzha was a judge. One day he had two young men in his court.
One of them, in the middle of a fight, bit the other one's ear.
Appearing before Nastradin Odzha, they began to tell what happened. The one who had been bitten complained about the other, and the other said, "Hah! You bit your own ear!"
The other said, "How on earth can a fellow bite his own ear?"
"He can, of course he can."
One said one thing, the other said another. Finally Nastradin Odzha said, "Wait a minute, I'm going to go away to think about how a fellow can bite his own ear."
He went into the other room and began to attempt to bite his own ear.
First he tried one side, then the other, with no success. Again, one side, then the other. He was throwing himself around the room when he tripped and fell, cracking his head so hard it began to bleed. He went back to the courtroom and asked the accused, "Okay, now tell me the truth, did you bite his ear?"
"No, I didn't, he bit himself."
Nastradin Odzha went to the other young man, saying, "Okay, tell me the truth, did he bite your ear or did you do it yourself?"
This young man again insisted that the other had bitten him. He said again, "How can a fellow bite his own ear?"
At this Nastradin Odzha got angry and said, "Not only can he bite his own ear, he can crack his own head! Look at mine!" And at that he ruled against the man who had been bitten.

45. Srandilodzhe's advice (BNT p. 536)
A rich man, a chorbadzhia, hired Srandilodzhe to work in the fields. He ploughed, he planted. One night his master went out drinking with some buddies. They drank wine, glass after glass. Finally his friends said to the chorbadzhia, "Hey, you sure have had a lot to drink!"
"Who me? You think this is a lot? I could drink the whole sea up, and that's how much wine I could drink."
"How could you drink the entire sea?"
"I'll show you."
"How can you?"
"I'll show you."
They asked him again, and again he said, "I'll show you! Tomorrow we'll go to the sea and I'll show you!"
He started weaving his way home. As he went, it became clear to him gradually that he had said something foolish, that he had promised to drink the entire sea.
"Oleleh! [pronounced oh lay lay, means omigosh] Tomorrow I have to drink the entire sea!"
The closer he got to home, the more worried he looked. Srandilodzhe saw him and said, "Every other time you've come home you haven't looked nearly this worried. I see you, you're walking this way, that way, with such a look on your face! Tell me what's wrong."
The chorbadzhia said, "Look, kid, take care of your animals, eat your dinner, go to bed, this is none of your business."
"Look, tell me the problem, even if you do think I'm just a kid, tell me. Maybe I can help you."
"Oh, okay, I'll tell you. I went down to the pub with my friends, we were drinking, and I told them I could drink the entire sea. Not only that, I said I'd do it tomorrow. I've got myself in a real bind."
Srandilodzhe said, "Oh, is that all? That's easy, why didn't you tell me right away--I could have saved you some worry. I can help you so you can sleep peacefully. Tomorrow when everybody comes to see you drink the sea, tell them that you'll do it just as soon as all the streams and rivers are in the sea. Then you'll drink it, every drop."
The next day, all the company from the night before--and many others as well--came to watch the chorbadzhia make a fool of himself.
He said, "Fine, I'm ready just as soon as you bring all the water from the streams and the rivers. Then I'll drink it all."
His friends said, "But that's impossible!"
"Well, in that case, I won't do it."
And that was that. From that time on, the chorbadzhia always was nice to Srandilodzhe.

46. The language of the cows (BNT p. 537)
One day Srandilodzhe went out to work with his animals. He could understand their language. At the end of the day, he heard a bull say, "I am soooo tired."
The cow answered, "Tomorrow, pretend you're sick. Fake it, and they'll let you stay home and rest."
Srandilodzhe understood. The next day when he went to get the animals, the bull could barely stand up. Srandilodzhe began to beat the cow. The chorbadzhia asked him why.
"Because the bull is sick. Watch him today. If he doesn't eat, slaughter him. I'll go out to the fields with the cow."
He took the cow. The bull stayed in the barn. He ate, he drank, afraid he might get slaughtered. That night, the cow came back.
She said, "Oooh, I am so mad at you! Because of you, I got beaten with the stick!"

47. How to repay a debt (VV p. 230)
Nastradin Odzha borrowed some money from his neighbor, promising to return it in a day or two. A week passed, then two, and still the Odzha didn't repay the money. Finally the neighbor went to find out when he was going to get his money back.
"My friend, I lent you money. Why haven't you repaid the debt?"
The Odzha said "Today I sent the children into the forest to gather wool from the sheep that wander there. When I sell the wool, I'll repay the money."
The neighbor found this funny and began to smile.
The Odzha said, "You'll really be laughing when I show you the money!"

48. Clever Peter and Nastradin Khodzha
Nastradin Khodzha took a big sack of lies over to Khitur Petur's house, to see if he could outlie his friend. Khitur Petur was building a fence.
He realized immediately why the Khodzha had come, so he said, "Nastradin Khodzha, I clean forgot my sack of lies. Do me a favor and hold this fence up while I go fetch it." He went on his way, leaving the Khodzha holding up the fence--and he never came back!
(Bulgarian source BNT p. 536)

49.What day is it?
Nasrudin was visiting a town for the first time. A stranger approached him and asked what day of the week it was.
"My friend, I'm not from this place. This is my first time here, so I couldn't possibly know what day it is. Please ask someone from here."
(Croatian source AI p. 27)

50. Why use five fingers?
Nasrudin sat at the table, eating with all five fingers. "Hodzha, why are you eating with five fingers?"
"Why? Because I don't have six."
(Croatian source AI p. 181)

51. Getting the moon out of the well.
Nasrudin-hodzha went to get water from the well. When he looked down in the well, he saw the moon's reflection in the water. Thinking that the moon had fallen from the sky, he ran to get a rope with a big hook on it. He pitched it into the well so hard that the hook snagged on a rock.
Hodzha gave a huge tug and the hook came free, flying up and out of the well. It knocked Hodzha right over. As he fell, he noticed the moon in the sky. Standing up, Hodzha said, "It's true that I strained and struggled, but thank Allah, I got the moon back in its place."
(Croatian source AI p. 194)

52. Hodzha lies to the king.
The king heard the wondrous stories of Srandilodzhe and wanted to meet the man himself, to see what kind of a man he really was.
Srandilodzhe put three cherries in a tin baking pan, covered it with a new cloth and went on his way. The king said to him, "What are you hiding there?"
Srandilodzhe answered, "I heard that when one visits an important man, it's necessary to bring baksheesh [a bribe or tip], so that's what I have here."
The king asked, "Is it something edible?"
Srandilodzhe took all three cherries from under the cloth, popped them in his mouth and said, "Edible? Certainly!"
The king asked Srandilodzhe to sit down. "They say that you are a great liar."
"Yes, I lie extremely well, but I don't have any lies right now. If you'd give me nine mules to sell, I'd be able to buy a doozy of a lie to tell you."
The king ordered one of his servants to give Srandilodzhe nine mules.
Srandilodzhe sold the mules and did not return to the king. The king sent a message to him, but he got no answer. Finally, the king sent a servant to get Srandilodzhe.
"What is this? Didn't you say you would sell the mules to buy a lie to tell me? You went away and didn't come back!"
Srandilodzhe said, "Well, honored king, you wanted me to tell you a big lie, so I did. I sold the mules and kept the money."
At this, the king forgave him.
(Bulgarian source BNT p. 538)

53. Nasrudin in the courtroom
One day, Nasrudin-hodza had an argument with another man, so they went to the judge.
Before the judge, Hodza pointed at his left armpit, under which he was holding something.
The judge thought that Nasrudin had brought him a gift, so he judged in favor of Hodza.
When his opponent left the courtroom, the judge said to Nasrudin, "Okay, I saw your signal--now you can give me the gift you have under your arm."
Hodza answered, "I didn't give you a sign that I'd brought you a gift. I just wanted you to know that if you didn't rule in my favor, I'd break your head with the rock I had under my armpit."
(Croatian source AI p. 58)

54. Nastradin Khodzha in court, again
A man stole a hard boiled egg. The landlord caught him and took him to the judge. It turned into a big deal. The landlord explained how that one egg would have hatched out a chick, which would grow into a hen, which would lay so many eggs. The judge placed a harsh sentence on the thief.
The defendant, feeling this was an uphill battle, went to see Strandi Odzha for advice.
"Hmm, fill out the form that says that I am a witness. We'll fix the matter."
So on a later date, Strandi Odzha was called to court as a witness. He was very late. When he arrived, the judge demanded to know why he was so late.
Strandi Odzha answered, "Your highness, today was the day I had to boil the wheat before I planted it. That's why I was late."
"Can wheat that has been boiled grow?"
Strandi Odzha answered, "Can a boiled egg produce a laying hen?"
And the judge changed his ruling.
(Bulgarian source VV p. 225)

55. Hunger
In a year of great hunger, Nasrudin thought he might die of starvation. He was traveling and heard that in one village there was a prince with a terrible disease. He went there and asked to see the patient.
"I know what this disease is! Get me some bread and honey immediately."
The servants brought the bread and honey. Nasrudin broke the bread and dipped it in the honey. Then he waved it in front of the eyes of the sick man three times. After this, he left, taking the food with him.
The next day, the sick man was dead.
"Nasrudin, what kind of medicine did you use, that the man was alive yesterday and is dead today?"
"Medicine? I didn't use any medicine! I saw that he was dying and didn't see why I should join him, just because of my hunger."
(Croatian source, AI p. 130)

56. Nasrudin and the Tsar
Nasrudin was seven years old, on his way to school with a big bag of books. On the street, he ran into the Tsar, who liked to walk among the people without servants, unrecognized.
"Little boy, where are you going?"
"To school, sir."
"Take this gold coin and buy yourself some candy."
"Can't. My father would ask me where I got it and then he'd beat me."
"Just take it! Tell him the Tsar gave it to you."
"He wouldn't believe me."
"Why not?"
"Well, the Tsar would never give just one gold coin. If you gave me a whole sack of gold coins, then he'd believe me."
The Tsar praised the wisdom of the little boy and gave him a whole sack of gold coins.
(Croatian source, AI p. 37 )

57. Training his donkey
Srandilodzhe rode his donkey to a wedding. At night when the other guests were feeding their horses and donkeys oats, Srandilodzhe gave his rocks. Some of the others asked why.
"I want to train him to eat rocks, in case one year I can't plant oats."
(Bulgarian source, BNT p.548)

58. Nastradin Khodzha isn't at home
A fellow was looking for Nastradin Khodzha, but the Khodzha didn't want to see him. He sent his wife out to say he wasn't in. The fellow saw that he was indeed home and was in fact looking out the window. As the Khodzha's wife proclaimed that he wasn't in, the other fellow began to laugh, saying, "Tell the Khodzha that next time he "isn't home" he shouldn't stand in front of the window.
(Bulgarian source, VV p. 230)

59. The priest's pig predicts the weather
Saradin Odzha was invited to visit his good friend the priest. Saradin Odzha asked his friend, "Father, can you tell me what the weather will be tomorrow?"
"Wait a minute and I'll let the pig out, she'll tell you."
He let the pig out and she began to pick up straw and corn.
"Tomorrow there will be wind and snow."
Later that morning, the Odzha went to an astrologer. "Can you tell me what the weather will be tomorrow?"
The astrologer said, "I can't tell you with absolute certainty, but the weather should be clear."
Saradin Odzha said, "Your predictions aren't even as good as the priest's pig's! She said there will be wind and snow!"
And indeed on the next day there was wind and snow.
(Bulgarian source, VV p. 235)

60. How Clever Peter and Nastradin Khodzha met, I
The Turkish trickster Nasredin Khodzha came from Anatolia to Bulgaria in order to lie to the Bulgarian people. He lied here, he lied there, until he came to Khitur Petur's village. The two met outside the priest's house. Nasredin Khodzha asked, "Is that you, Khitur Petur?"
"Yes, it's me."
"I heard that you can lie."
"That's what the people say," Khitur Petur answered modestly. "And I've heard the same about you."
"And what are you doing here, Khitur Petur?"
"I'm holding up the wall so it won't fall down."
"Let's see if we can outlie each other."
"Okay, but I forgot my bag of lies. I'll just run home and get it, if you'll hold the wall up for me."
"Go," said the Khodzha, "but hurry back."
Khitur Petur went to a cafe and ordered a coffee. The Khodzha waited a long time, holding the wall up, until it dawned on him how he'd been tricked. The next day he yelled at Petur:
"Hey, Petur, how come you didn't come back for our lying contest?"
"What kind of lie do you want? What could be bigger than the one I told you?"
Nasredin Khodzha chewed his lip. He nodded, but said nothing.
"Are you really angry?" asked Petur. "Come, let's go for a walk and when you're calmed down we can get down to lying."
They set off. They walked slowly, talking. Nasredin Khodzha said, "We have two suns where I'm from, as well as winged donkeys. The rabbits carry eggs into the highest trees."
"Khodzha, you lie beautifully but I just don't believe you."
"Our water is dry. We don't drink it, but we do cut it with a knife."
"Huh, Khodzha, I just don't believe you."
They walked further into the forest. Both were getting hungry.
"We should have eaten something," said Petur.
"What can we eat now?"
"Here comes a landowner with a little lamb. Do you believe I can get it for us?"
"No, of course I don't. The landowner looks strong."
"Wait a bit, watch, and above all be quiet."
Khitur Petur put one of his shoes on the path and the other even farther ahead. He hid. The landowner walked past the first shoe, giving it a kick and saying, "Nice shoe, but it's not a whole pair." He continued on his way. A bit farther he came to the other shoe. He left the lamb and came back for the first shoe. By the time he got back to where it had been, Khitur Petur had claimed it, then run back and picked up the second shoe and the lamb. He returned to where Nasredin Khodzha was waiting. They roasted the lamb and sat down to eat it.
"Khodzha," said Petur, "want me to lie to you so well you’ll leave before you even get a bite of this lamb?"
"You can’t!"
"Can too!"
"Let’s see!"
"Wait a minute, we need to salt this lamb, I’ll go get some salt."
Petur left and after a short time his voice was heard, "Oleleh! Don’t beat me! It wasn’t me! The Khodzha stole your lamb, hey, ouch, hey! Go deal with him!"
The Khodzha, when he heard the shouts, jumped up and said to himself, "That landowner will crack my bones if he catches me! I’m taking off!" He spat on his heels and ran. That’s how Khitur Petur outlied him—and you know Petur came back to the lamb and ate the whole thing himself.
(Bulgarian source VV p. 278)

61. Pull me up by the beard
One day, Nasrudin's wife asked him to go to the market to buy a length of cloth, exactly one arshin (measure of length).
"How on earth will I know how much is an arshin?"
"Spread your hands out."
He spread his hands.
"Look, from here to here, that's an arshin," his wife explained.
Nasrudin set out for the marketplace with his hands spread exactly one arshin apart so he wouldn't forget. He was concentrating so hard on this measurement that he didn't watch where he was going, and he fell down a well.
A fellow walking by heard the hodza's cries and called down, "Put your hand out and I'll pull you up."
"No, I'll forget how long an arshin is. Pull me up by the beard!"
(Croatian source, AI p. 154)

62. Honoring the clothes (we've had a similar one before, but I liked this version)
Srandilodzhe went to the coffeehouse almost naked, in tatters. They threw him out. He returned home and got dressed up, then returned to the coffeehouse. The proprietor met him at the door, "Come in, come in, welcome!"
Srandilodzhe was served coffee. He took it and poured it on his shirt.
"What are you doing?!"
"You were welcoming the shirt, not the man."
(Bulgarian source, BNT p. 548)

63. Nastradin Khodzha marries his daughter off, I
Saradin Odzha's wife sent him to the market to sell the cow. He took the cow to market, but he wasn't able to sell it, so he returned home. His wife began to scold him.
"Why didn't you praise the cow?"
"Praise it? How?"
"You should have said that the cow is fat, from good stock, she has been raised well, she has been pregnant for four months..."
Saradin Odzha was silent.
Some time after this, a young man arrived to court his daughter.
He said to his wife, "Now you be quiet, I don't want you saying anything stupid. I'll do the talking here."
He said to the suitor, "My daughter is fat, from good stock, she has been raised well, and she has been pregnant for four months..."
The suitor ran away. Saradin Odzha's wife was furious. She began to scream at him, "Why did you knock our daughter like that in front of the suitor?
Saradin answered, "Didn't you tell me that's the way to praise a cow?"
(Bulgarian source, VV p. 232)

64. Nastradin Khodzha marries his daughter off, II
Nastradin Khodzha took a heifer to market many times but he couldn't seem to sell it. One day at the market a dzhambazin, a man who sold stock, noticed this and asked why the Khodzha couldn't sell the heifer.
"Come with me, I'll show you how."
He began to praise the heifer: "I know the mother of this heifer. She's a timid sweet cow who gives lots of creamy milk. The heifer will surely be like her mother, very gentle, very good. This heifer has been pregnant six months..."
And they sold the heifer.
The Khodzha had a daughter. After a time, several young men came to call on her. The Khodzha began to praise her: "My daughter is very good, timid like her mother, she gives creamy milk, she has been pregnant for six months!"
The suitors hearing this ran off. The Khodzha's wife began to scold, "Why did you say that to the suitors?!"
"If you don't sing the praises of a heifer, you'll never sell her. The same for our daughter."
(Bulgarian source, VV p. 233)

65. Nastradin Khodzha wins one thousand gold coins
Nastradin Odzha was a very poor man. He decided to try to get some money from his neighbor, who was rich but stingy--he wouldn't give anything to anybody. The Odzha devised a plan. Every morning he stood where his neighbor could hear and prayed, "Allah, allah, send me one thousand gold coins, I have such need. If you send but nine hundred and ninety nine I won't take them, I'll strew them on the path."
He repeated this day after day. The rich man heard it and decided to test to see if the Odzha meant what he said. He took 999 gold pieces and wrapped them in a silk hankerchief. He tiptoed into the Odzha's house and placed this package next to the chimney. In the morning, on his way to start the fire, the Odzha discovered the hankerchief. He opened it and began to count the coins. Of course he knew where it had come from, but he said, "Ah, Allah has been kind to me and has sent me the money I asked for."
When he discovered that there were only 999 pieces, he said, "Hmm, there are only 999, but the hankerchief is worth one more, so that makes one thousand. I asked and Allah gave me what I needed."
The rich neighbor was waiting for the Odzha to strew the coins on the path. Finally a week went by, and the neighbor went to visit the Odzha.
"Hey, neighbor, you were praying to Allah to send you one thousand gold coins. Allah didn't send you those coins--I did, to see if you'd really strew them on the path, since there were only 999."
The Odzha said, "Not true! There were 999, but the hankerchief cost at least one gold coin, so that makes one thousand. Just as I prayed to Allah, he sent me."
The neighbor was so angry that he decided to sue him. A week later, the Odzha was summoned to court.
The neighbor went to the Odzha and said, "Come on, it's time for us to go to the city to court."
The Odzha said, "I'm a poor man. I can't possibly go to the city in these ragged clothes. If you'd get me some decent clothes and a horse, I'll go to the city."
The rich man was so sure he'd win the judgment that he gave the Odzha some clothes and a horse. The two appeared before the judge.
The judge asked the rich man, "Why are you suing the Odzha?" What has he done to you?"
The rich man explained how the Odzha had prayed to Allah for one thousand gold pieces, that he'd said that if it was only 999, he would strew them on the path. He told how he had put 999 gold pieces in the Odzha's house to see if he was telling the truth, to see if he'd strew them on the path, and how the Odzha had refused to return the money.
The Odzha was silent throughout this speech. The judge asked him, "Odzha, what can you tell me of this affair?"
The Odzha answered, "Your honor, if you listened only to my neighbor, he'd probably also claim that these clothes I'm wearing belong to him."
His neighbor said, "But they are! They're mine!"
The Odzha continued, "And didn't I tell you he'd say that. He'd also certainly claim that that horse is his as well."
"But it is! It's mine!"
The Odzha said, "Didn't I tell you?"
The judge said to the rich man, "You think that you can even take the clothes off a man's back!"
And he judged in the Odzha's favor. That's how the Odzha came away with new clothes, a horse and 999 gold coins.
(Bulgarian source, VV p. 226)

66. Nasrudin and the sheep's head
When he was a little boy, Nasrudin's father gave him some money to buy a roast sheep's head. On his way home, Nasrudin ate the whole thing. He arrived with just the skullbone.
"What is that head, my son?"
"It's a sheep's head."
"Where are the ears, then?"
"The poor thing, it was deaf."
"Where are its eyes?"
"Unfortunately, it was blind."
"Where is the tongue?"
"The miserable animal had none."
"Thee's no meat on its face."
"It was very skinny, had the mange."
"Well, why on earth did you buy it?"
"It has good teeth."
"And so do you!" said his father, boxing Nasrudin's ear.
(Croatian source, AI p. 33)

67. The adventures of Nastradin Khodzha with Krali Marko, the mayor, the mayor's secretary [a man] and the judge. [Note: Krali Marko was a hero with unusual strength. I don't think he's usually portrayed in this bad light--and I don't know why he's even in this story! I'm not sure who Logodazh-Lazh is.] Nastredin Odzha, Krali Marko and Logodazh-Lazh gathered to pick cherries. Fine, but Nastredin was old and decrepit [senile?], Krali Marko was stout, heavy. When Krali Marko climbed up the cherry tree, he twisted the ladder. Nastredin Odzha began to pick cherries. He held onto the ladder with one hand and picked with the other. Fine, but Krali Marko kicked the ladder by mistake and Nastredin went flying off the ladder, out of the tree, right down into a thorn bush. Krali Marko asked, "Hey, Nastredin, what are you doing?"
"Me? I saw two rabbits in the bushes. I didn't think I could catch them from down there, but I jumped out of the tree and caught them both."
He took both rabbits home. That night he went to the cafe with one of the rabbits. The mayor and his secretary were there. Nastredin invited them to dinner.
They answered, "It's late, who will kill the chicken and make the banitsa?"
Nastredin said to the rabbit, "Go home and tell my wife to make the banitsa and kill the chicken, because the mayor and his secretary are coming to dinner."
When they got to Nastredin's house, his wife had prepared everything.
The mayor saw that the rabbit had told her exactly what to do. As they sat down to eat, the mayor said, "Nastredin, give me that rabbit, it could take the mail all the way to Blagoevgrad."
He took the rabbit from Nastredin in exchange for a hatful of gold coins. In the morning he tied a bag of letters on the rabbit, took it outside, gave it a whack, told it to run as fast as it could for Blagoevgrad and to return straight away. He waited a day. Two. The rabbit didn't return. The mayor and his secretary decided to return to Nastredin's house to yell at him for cheating them. When Nastredin heard that the mayor and the secretary were coming, he got ready. He filled a little bag with lamb's blood and tied this near his wife's throat. He hid, waiting for the mayor and the secretary to appear. When they arrived, Nastradin walked in. He pretended to be furious that his wife hadn't asked them to sit down. He picked up his knife and stabbed her--but not really. He hit the bag of blood and his wife fell to the floor.
The mayor was shocked, "You just stabbed your wife!"
Nastredin said, "Let her get up and be well!" He took out a little whistle and began to play. His wife stood up, completely well.
"Nastredin, sell me that whistle. My wife never obeys me."
So he took the whistle and went home. When he demanded dinner, his wife refused. He stabbed her and she fell to the floor. The mayor pulled out the whistle and began to play. She remained on the floor. The secretary said, "You don't know the tune! Come on, let's try it on my wife." They did, and she died.
The next week Nastredin was called before a judge. He took a big pail of butter--or that's what it looked like. He filled the bucket with shit, except for the top layer, which was truly butter. Before the trial, he gave the bucket to the judge, who promised to fix the outcome in his favor. The judge dipped two fingers into the butter and licked them.
Instead of tasting butter, he tasted shit.
"Get out of here! I don't ever want to see your lying eyes again!"
That night it began to snow. Nastredin took it into his head to make some shoes out of two colanders. He walked around the village in these strange shoes, finally hiding in a weeping willow. The judge and the police saw the footprints and wondered what kind of creature it was.
They followed the trail until they found Nastredin up in the tree. When he saw the judge, he dropped his pants.
"Nastradin, what on earth are you doing?"
"Yesterday you said you never wanted to see my lying eyes, so here's a view of my ass!"

68. Nastradin Khodzha lies on his own territory
The Odzha went to another country and began to lie to the people. He was taken to court and told he had no right to do this, he had to leave. So, he left. He went home to Anatolia and filled a bottle with dust. Then he went back to that other country and began to spread the dust in front of him, as he spread lies to the people. He was stopped, "Didn't we tell you to leave, to go to your home turf?"
"I've got the dust of Asia Minor right here--I'm walking on my land, not on yours!"

69. Nastradin Khodzha feeds two wise men [Hey! recognize this one?] Nastradin Khodzha was a shepherd. Two wise men were passing by and asked for some yoghurt. Nastradin poured out a bowl of yogurt and gave each man a spoon two meters long.
"Eat."
They said, "But Hodzha, how can we eat with these long spoons?"
"Easy! You'll feed each other!"
And so they did.

70. The marvelous pot of Nastradin Khodzha
Nasradin Odzha took to the road to sell clay pots. He lit a fire in a little hollow where it couldn't be seen from above, and put a pot of water on to boil. A traveling salesman going by stopped. "Whoa, look at that pot, it doesn't even need a fire under it to boil that water! Amazing! I could cook up a stew without having to make a fire. How much do you want for it?" He bought it and went on his way. Of course, when he tried the pot, it didn't work. But what could he do, Nasradin was long gone.
Here are a few more, these from a Russian book of stories of tricksters from around the world (Prodelki khitretsov: Mify, skazki, basni i anekdoty o proslavennykh khitretsakh, mudretsakh i shutnikakh mirovogo fol’klora / G.L. Permiakova. Moskva: Nauka, 1972).

71. The Hodzha sells a ladder
One day, the hodzha took his ladder, leaned it up against a wall, climbed it, pulled it over the wall, and climbed down into a garden. The owner of this garden saw this happen: "Hey! Who are you and what are you doing in my garden?!" The hodzha responded calmly, "I'm selling ladders." "In MY garden? This isn't the place to sell ladders!" The hodzha answered, "Don't you know that the best place to sell a ladder is where it is most needed?"
(Turkey)

72. Even on his deathbed, the Hodzha jokes around
Lying on his deathbed, the hodzha said to his wife, "Sweetie pie, go put on your best dress, comb your hair and smile. Try to make yourself as beautiful as you can."
His wife said, "What?! Do you want me to go chasing other men at this sad time? I absolutely won't do that! Do you think I'm so helpless, so lacking that I would even think of such a thing at a time like this?"
"No, my dear wife, banish those thoughts from your mind. My goal is completely different: I see that I'm coming to my last hour. Azriel is hovering over me, ready to take me when I breathe my last. If he sees you in your best dress, looking like an angel, done up like a peacock, maybe he'll take you and leave me here in peace. Now do you understand my plan?"
The wife didn't know what to say about this, didn't even dare look at the hodzha. One of his former wives was there, though, and she said, "Oh my God, what you won't do! It's clear that even at the end of your life, you're not about to change your character."
(Turkey)

73. The lost ring
The hodzha lost a ring somewhere in his house. He looked for it but didn't find it, so he went outside and continued looking in front of the door. HIs neighbor asked him what he was looking for. When he understood that the hodzha was looking for a ring he'd lost in the house, he asked, "Why are you looking outdoors, then?" "Well, it's too dark indoors. I can see better in this light.
(Turkey)

74. Nasreddin carries the bottles
One day, when Nasreddin was a boy, he met a man on the street carrying an enormous basket of bottles and glasses.
"Young man, would you help me out here? I need someone to carry this basket to my village."
"What will you give me?"
"I'll give you three pieces of excellent advice, wisdom that will help you throughout your life."
So Nasreddin agreed to carry the basket. He picked it up and set off. It was quite heavy, but he didn't mind because he'd been promised wisdom.
After they'd gone a third of the way, the man said, "Here's my first piece of advice: if somebody tells you that it is better to be poor than to be rich, don't believe it."
Hmm. Nasreddin didn't think much of this advice, but on he went. A little way farther, the man said, "Here's my second piece of advice: if somebody tells you it is better to be sick than to be well, don't believe it."
Nasreddin hoped that the third piece of advice would be better than the first two, so he slogged on. Finally they arrived at the man's house.
"Now, my last bit of advice: if somebody tells you that I've given you no advice at all, don't you believe it."
Nasreddin looked at the man, looked at the bottles and said, "Let me give you a piece of advice now: if somebody tells you that any of these bottles and glasses are not broken, don't you believe it."
At this, he shook the basket hard and threw it with all his force on the ground.
(French source)

75. Rules of the road
[This Hodja and Clever Peter story is from a Bulgarian source--of course, Clever Peter always wins out over the Hodja in Bulgaria.]
The Khodzha and Clever Peter were arguing about who knew the rules of the road better.
"Peter, I bet you don't know the rules for driving."
"Oh, yes I do, Hodja. I took the test last week."
"Okay, let's see how much you know. Let's say you're driving on a main road. You approach an intersection with a smaller road. What do you do if another car approaches from that smaller road?"
"That's simple. I'd stop and look."
"Ha! You don't know the rules at all! You're lying about having taken that test. You'd stop and look? Don't you know you'd have the right of way?"
"Of course I'd know that, Hodja, because I know the rules of the road, but how do I know that the driver approaching knows them? That's why I'd stop and look."

76) The Idries Shah book is wonderful, and there are many websites with Hodja tales. Here are a few:
http://www.business-with-turkey.com/hoca/hoca-who.htm
http://www.stwing.upenn.edu/~durduran/hoca/hoca.htm

77) Nasreddin Hodja
Filled with information and stories about the beloved character of Turkish tales, this website is also a portal to many other Hodja sites. Here is but a small slice of his wisdom:| "Hodja! What do they do with the old full moons?" "They cut them up into small pieces and make the stars!"
Nasreddin Hodja by Erol Beymen

78) This is the best site of Hodja stories I have found on the net to date. It will take you a while to go through it but oh the stories you will read!
Nasreddin Hodja by Erol Beymen
http://hem.bredband.net/hodja/index.htm
Karen C.
Response: Not only is the above a very wide collection of stories, it has some good background info. - e.g. on the historical figure.
Richard M.

79) Pronunciation of Nasreddin. Is it regional or by language group or what exactly?
Yes. The various spellings reflect the fact that he is popular in, and claimed by, quite a number of countries ranging from eastern Europe to the Middle East. Their various languages either have variants of the name or are transliterated into English in different ways by different people. You haven't listed quite a few of his other names, some of which are quite different.

Also, if anyone knows of a good collection of Hodja stories or recounting of his origins/history that would be great.

Go to my website and check the Story Links page. Amongst the several hundred links to websites of stories, both huge and small, you'll find a section on Nasruddin websites. There are several listed, with many stories, including at least one with a biography of Nasruddin. But you should realise that Nasruddin would never be so straightforward as to have one history. Perhaps you could travel to Turkey and a few of the other countries where his actual physical grave is, and ask him yourself.

I can clear up one question - his name is often a form of Nasruddin; Mullah is his Muslim office - a religious role; and 'The Hodja' is an alternative term or title, meaning master or teacher.
Tim S.
http://www.timsheppard.co.uk/story

80) For a terrific and thoughtful overview/guide to Hodja from an Arab perspective, check out these excellent articles from Aramco World Magazine:
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199705/tales.of.the.hoja.htm
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197103/a.man.of.many.names.htm
Mary Grace

81) Turkish "hoca" is phonetically equivalent to "hodja", since "c" in Turkish is pronounced as English "j" ( and "ç" is pronounced as English "ch"). I believe that it is connected with "hajji", originally someone who had been on the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca which is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, but also a title of respect. "Hoxha" is no doubt an Albanian loan-word from Turkish, the mainly Muslim Albanians having been ruled by the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Envar Hoxha was ironically the atheist Stalinist dictator. Even nowadays, those who have been on the Hajj are respected. In Egypt, a number of houses had a date and an appropriate pictures on the door, modern ones generally including a plane, but some dating back hundreds of years.
Philip A.

82) First, the different spellings of the odjah's name: 'Nasreddin' or 'Nasrudeen' or 'Nasruddin' or as my mama called him 'Nastreddin', it really doesn't matter. Pick one you like and use it. All the aforementioned versions are transliterations into a language other than Turkish - either Arabic, English, one of the Slavic dialects, etc. One related thing I have worked out is that 'Nasreddin' is like another Arabic name we're familiar with but probably mispronounce, too: 'Aladdin'. Probably it's "A-lad-deen", with the stress on the third syllable.

For myself, I always thought (till I saw it in print) that the name and the honorific - hodja - were all one word and his actual name. It was a little long -'Nas-tred-din-odjah' - but since I had a little long first and second name I didn't think anything about it. The whole thing was his name and sometimes you used one or the other and sometimes you used both just for variety.

'Odjah' is Turkish and I'm no sure about 'mullah' but think it is more Arabic, most probably associated with the Sufi tradition (which I'm told use the stories as vehicles for philosophical thinking related to their beliefs). A Sufi scholar, Idries Shah, has several slim volumes of Nasreddin stories, and one very large volume. I think probably all of them are out of print but suggest you do a Google search on Mr. Shah to get all his titles.

Besides the stories my mother told me, I like the following collections best:
Downing, Chas. Tales of the Hodja, NY: Walck. 1965.
Nakosteen, Mehdi. Mullas Donkey & Other Friends. Boulder, CO: Este Es Pr. 1974
Barnham, Henry D. Tales of Nasr-Ed-Din Khoja. London: Nisbet & Co., Ltd. 1924.

Most collections will contain items of history and origin in their introductions. I've never Googled "Nasreddin, Odjah", so there's no telling what you'll find there, but I'm sure it'll be a lot and probably some new collections, too.

As I'm sure you already know, the Odjah is found is several cultures and often has a variation on Nasreddin or an entirely different name, e.g., 'Djuha' in Arabic stories, 'Tyl Euigenspiel' in German, 'Old John" in the African-American "Old John & Massa" stories, and 'Giufa' in some Italian stories.

It seems only fitting to relate - if you haven't already come across this information - that there's and annual Festival in Central Turkey celebrating Nasreddin. A grave said to be his is in Akshehir (spelling varies, too). In front of the not-in-any-other-way-unusual grave is an amply chained and padlocked waist-high cast iron gate. Without a fence. Ah, Nasreddin!
Mary G. with the permission of Steve Kardaleff
•••••

83) Bones:
Hodja is invited to a banquet, takes a long trip to get there, and arrives just in time though dusty and travel worn.
Host meets him at the door, thinks he is a dirty beggar, and sends him away.
Hodja cleans up, changes his clothes, returns to the home, and is invited inside this time.
At the table, he starts stuffing food up his sleeves, into his collar and pockets, saying yum-yum-yum.
When the host asks what he is doing, he says that clearly it was his clothes, not himself, who was welcome at the banquet; therefore his clothes should eat the food.
Mary Grace K. 5/22/07
•••••

84) Here are some more sites:
http://www.nasruddin.org/
Background and links to stories
http://www.afghan-network.net/Funny/1.html
Atories
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Nasrudin (50 stories)
Many stories, with interpretive notes
http://www.theindustrystandard.com/article/0,1902,17780,00.html
Has a version of the story about "telling those who don't" attributed to Richard Martin.
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/hodja.html
Introductory information and stories
Granny Sue 1/24/08
•••••

85) This site is devoted to Hodja, lots of stories here.
http://www.cs.biu.ac.il/~schiff/Hodja/index.html
Karen C. 1/24/08
•••••

86) There is a Nasruddin story I love. I don't know the title, but here are the bones:
Bones:
Nasruddin must give the (sermon? message? I don't know what it's called) at mosque. Now Nasruddin hated public speaking. all week he agonized over what to say. On the day, he stood before the people in the mosque. All grew quiet, waiting to hear what he would say, this wise man. He looked out over the crowd and said, "Do you know what I have come to tell you?" Of course they didn't so they shook their heads no. "Well then, why should I wate my time telling you!" And he left. Next week, same scenario--only this time they all nodded, Yes! And he said, "well then there is no reason for me to tell you." Third week, some nodded, some shook their heads. Nasruddin said, Well then, those of you who know tell those who don't. And he left.
Granny Sue 1/23/08
•••••

BOOKS AVAILABLE:
• Nasreddin Hodja Stories to Read and Retell by Raymond Clark. (2004)
• Tales of the Hodja, by Charles Downing. (1965)
• One day the Hodja by Murat Hikmet. (1959)
• Nasreddin Hodja CD by Raymond C. Clark. (CD)
• Nasreddin Hodja by Milet Publishing Ltd. (1998)
Review by S.J. Parker
The themes of the stories cover not just the age when Nasreddin Hodja lived but also the adventures of Turkish people over the centuries. In ancient times Nasreddin Hodja stories were spread by word of mouth over a vast area. Today, the stories are told in a vast geographic area extending from E. Turkmenistan to Hungary and from Siberia to No. Africa and have been translated into many languages. Nasreddin Hodja stories are told in such succinct phrases that the last phrase of the stories which is uttered by Hodja have become popular epigrams or sayings like "laying flour on rope," "making it look like a bird," "the quilt is gone, the fight is over," "cutting the branach one is sitting on," etc. I enjoyed reading the stories to my granddaughter. Good illustrations.
~~~~~
• Witty Stories of the Hodja by Vimala Arangaden. (2002)
• The wit and wisdom of Nasraddin Hodja by Nejat Muallimoglu. (1986)
• Nasreddin Hodja: The Turk Who Makes the World Laugh by And Press. (1988)
• Tales of the Hodja (Best in Children's Literature Series III) by Bowmar Press. (1965)
• TALES OF THE HODJA:A many sided hero, sometimes foolish, sometimes wise, but always endearing. by Oxford University Press. (1966)
• 202 Jokes of Nasreddin Hodja by Galeri Minyatur. (1993)
Book Description
This book contains 202 brief stories told of Nasreddin Hodja, beloved Turkish personality of the 13th century. The stories are interspersed with color illustrations of the stories.
~~~~~
• ONCE THE HODJA by Alice Geer Kelsey. (1967)
• The Obstinate Hodja (Storytellers) by Kemal Esref Sakarya. (1988)
• Once the Hodja by Alice Geer Kelsey. (1958)
• Nasredding Hodja by Revas. (1997)
• One Day the Hodja by Murat Hikmet and Muammer Bakir (illus). (1970)
• Once the Hodja, by Alice Geer Kelsey. (1962)
• Once the Hodja by Alice Geer Kelsey. (1949)
• Once the Hodja by Alice Geer Kelsey and Frank Dobias (illus) (1965)
• One Day the Hodja by Murat Hikmet and Muammer Bakir (illus). (1962)
• The Tales of Nasreddin Hodja Story Cards: Pairwork Conversation Activities by Raymond C. Clark and Robert MacLean (illus). (1991)
Book Description
Who was Nasreddin Hodja? Born in rural Turkey around 1208, Nasreddin became known as Hodja, the teacher. The 40 stories about his adventures, his common sense, and droll sense of humor have become true folk tales, told and embellished by adults and children alike for over 700 years. They are known from Gibraltar to the Himalayas, from Timbuktu to Timor to Tajikistan, throughout the whole world touched by Islam.
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• Nasreddin Hodja Turk Who Makes the World by Mujdat Kayayerli.
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(This web page updated 1/24/05; 5/13/07; 5/23/07; 1/24/08)