An Anthology of Fables

The Smell of Soup and the Sound of Money Nasreddin Hodja

A beggar was given a piece of bread, but nothing to put

on it. Hoping to get something to go with his bread,

he went to a nearby inn and asked for a piece of cheese.

The innkeeper turned him away with nothing, but the

beggar sneaked into the kitchen where he saw a large pot

of soup cooking over the fire.

He held his piece of bread over the steaming pot,

hoping to thus capture a bit of flavor from the

good-smelling vapor.

Suddenly the innkeeper seized him by the arm and

accused him of stealing soup."I took no soup," said

the beggar. "I was only smelling the vapor."

"Then you must pay for the smell," answered the

innkeeper. The poor beggar had no money, so the

angry innkeeper dragged him before the qadi.

Now Nasreddin Hodja was at that time serving as

qadi, and he heard the innkeeper's complaint and

the beggar's explanation. "So you demand payment for the smell of your soup?"

summarized the Hodja after the hearing.

"Yes!" insisted the innkeeper.

"Then I myself will pay you," said the Hodja, "and I will

pay for the smell of your soup with the sound of money."

Thus saying, the Hodja drew two coins from his pocket,

rang them together loudly, put them back into his pocket,

and sent the beggar and the innkeeper each on his own

way.

Eat, My Clothes!

Giufà/Italy

• Giufà was a very simple man and no one

• showed him any kindness, such as to invite him to his house or give him anything to eat.

• Once Giufà went to a farmhouse

• and when the farmers saw him looking so ragged and poor, set the dogs on him,

• and made him leave in a hurry.

• When his mother heard it she made him

• a fine coat, a hat, a pair of breeches, and

• a velvet vest.

• Giufà dressed up, went to the same farmhouse, and then you should see what great ceremonies they made! They invited him to dine with them saying, "Welcome, Giufà.

• While at the table all were very attentive to him.The placed him at the head of the table, and said, "Please to eat, dear Giufà.

• Giufà, on the one hand, filled his stomach, and on the other, put into the pockets of his coat, and hat whatever was left over, saying: "Eat, my clothes, for you were invited!"

The Man Who Became Rich through a Dream1001 Nights

• Once there lived in Baghdad a wealthy man who lost all his means and was thus forced to earn his living by hard labor. One night a man came to him in a dream, saying, "Your fortune is in Cairo; go there and seek it." So he set out for Cairo. He arrived there after dark and took shelter for the night in a mosque. As Allah would have it, a band of thieves entered the mosque in order to break into an adjoining house. The noise awakened the owners, who called for help. The Chief of Police and his men came to their aid. The robbers escaped, but when the police entered the mosque they found the man from Baghdad asleep there. They laid hold of him and beat him with palm rods until he was nearly dead, then threw him into jail.

• Three days later the Chief of Police sent for him and asked, "Where do you come from?"

• "From Baghdad," he answered.

• "And what brought you to Cairo?"

• "A man came to me in a dream and told me to come to Cairo to find my fortune," answered the man from Baghdad "But when I came here, the promised fortune proved to be the palm rods you so generously gave to me."

• "You fool," said the Chief of Police, laughing until his wisdom teeth showed. "A man has come to me three times in a dream and has described a house in Baghdad where a great sum of money is supposedly buried beneath a fountain in the garden. He told me to go there and take it, but I stayed here. You, however, have foolishly journeyed from place to place on the faith of a dream which was nothing more than a meaningless hallucination." He then gave him some money saying, "This will help you return to your own country."

• The man took the money. He realized that the Chief of Police had just described his own house in Baghdad, so he forthwith returned home, where he discovered a great treasure beneath the fountain in his garden. Thus Allah gave him abundant fortune and brought the dream's prediction to fulfillment.

The Man and the SerpentAesop

• A countryman's son by accident trod upon a serpent's tail, which turned and bit him so that he died. The father in a rage got his ax, and pursuing the serpent, cut off part of its tail. So the serpent in revenge began stinging several of the farmer's cattle and caused him severe loss. Well, the farmer thought it best to make it up with the serpent, and brought food and honey to the mouth of its lair, and said to it, "Let's forget and forgive. Perhaps you were right to punish my son, and take vengeance on my cattle, but surely I was right in trying to revenge him. Now that we are both satisfied, why should not we be friends again?"

• "No, no," said the serpent. "Take away your gifts. You can never forget the death of your son, nor I the loss of my tail.

• Injuries may be forgiven, but not forgotten

An Unusual Ride Switzerland/Germany

• A man was riding home on his donkey, while his boy walked beside them. A traveler came along and said, "Father, it is not right for you to ride while you make your boy walk. You have stronger limbs." So the father climbed off the donkey and let his son ride. Another traveler came along and said, "Boy, it is not right for you to ride while you make your father go on foot. You have younger legs."

• So they both mounted the donkey and road on a little way. A third traveler came along and said, "How stupid! Two fellows on one weak animal. Someone should take a stick and knock you off its back!"

• So they both climbed off, and all three went along on foot, the father and son left and right, and the donkey in the middle. A fourth traveler came along and said, "You are three strange companions. Isn't it enough if two of you were to go on foot? Wouldn't it be easier if one of you would ride?"

• So the father tied the donkey's front legs together, and the son tied its back legs together. Then they put a strong pole that was lying beside the road through its legs and carried the donkey home on their shoulders.

• That's how far it can go if one tries to please everyone.

Jean de La FontaineThe Middle-Aged Man and the Two Widows

A man of middle age, Fast getting gray, Thought it would be but sage To fix the marriage day. He had in stocks, And under locks, Money enough to clear his way.

• Such folks can pick and choose; all tried to please The moneyed man; but he, quite at his ease, Showed no great hurry, Fuss, nor scurry. "Courting," he said, "was no child's play."

• Two widows in his heart had shares -- One young; the other, rather past her prime, By careful art repairs What has been carried off by Time.

• The merry widows did their best To flirt and coax, and laugh and jest; Arranged, with much of bantering glee, His hair, and curled it playfully.

• The eldest, with a wily theft, Plucked one by one the dark hairs left. The younger, also plundering in her sport, Snipped out the gray hair, every bit. Both worked so hard at either sort, They left him bald -- that was the end of it.

The Husband Who Was to Mind the House Norway

• Once upon a time there was a man who was so bad tempered that he thought his wife did nothing right in the house. «Dear love, don't be so angry,» said his wife, "tomorrow let's change jobs. I'll go out and mow, and you can mind the house."

• So early the next morning, his wife went to the field to mow and the man did the work at home.

• First of all he wanted to churn the butter. But when he had churned a while, he got thirsty and went down to the cellar to drink from the barrel. He opened the tap, when he heard the pig come into the kitchen above. As fast as he could, he ran up to the kitchen. When he got there he saw that the pig had already knocked the churn all over the floor. He got so angry that he gave it such a powerful kick that he killed it on the spot. Then he remembered he had forgotten the tap of the barrel. But when he returned to the cellar, all the ale had run out of the barrel.

• Then he filled the churn again and he began to churn, for they had to have butter for dinner. When he had churned a bit, he remembered that their cow was still shut up in the barn and hadn't eaten or drunk all morning. But it was too far to take her down to the meadow, so he'd just get her up onto the roof, for a fine crop of grass was growing there.

• But he couldn't leave the churn, for his little baby was crawling on the floor. "If I leave it," he thought, "the child will tip it over." So he put the churn on his back, and went out with it. But then he thought he'd better first water the cow, so he picked up a bucket to draw water out of the well. But as he stooped over the well all the cream ran down into the well.

The Husband Who Was to Mind the House Norway

• Now it was nearly dinnertime, and he hadn't even finished the butter yet, so he thought he'd best boil the porridge. He filled the pot with water and hung it over the fire. When he had done that, it occurred to him that the cow might fall off the roof, so he climbed up onto the house to tie her up. He tied one end of the rope around the cow's neck. He slipped the other end down the chimney and tied it around his own leg. Then he had to hurry, for the water was now boiling in the pot, and he still had to grind the oatmeal.

•  

• He began to grind away; but the cow fell off the roof, dragging the man up the chimney by the rope. There he stuck. As for the cow, she hung halfway down the wall for she could neither get down nor up.

• Now the wife waited for her husband to come and call her home to dinner, but he never came. At last she went home. But when she arrived home and saw the cow hanging there, she ran up and cut the rope. When she did this, her husband fell down from within the chimney. When the old woman came inside, she found him with his head in the porridge pot.

The Crow and Its Ugly FledglingsRomania

• Of all the birds the crow is considered the ugliest, especially its young. The legend tells that sometime after God had created all the living beings, he called everyone to see them and their offspring. He wanted to see how the young birds and animals looked, and then to give them suitable gifts, and food for their little ones.

• They came one by one, and God looked at them, patted some and stroked others, and was very pleased with every one of them, for each one had something of beauty in it. And so he blessed them and gave them food by which to live. The last to come was the crow, bringing her little offspring with her, very proud of them.

• When God cast his eyes upon the young crows, he spat in astonishment, and said, "Surely these are not my creatures. I could not have made such ugly things. Every one of my creatures has such beautiful young ones that they are a pleasure to look at, but yours are so ugly that it makes one sick to look at them. Where did you get this one?"

• "Where should I get them from?" replied the crow.

• "It is my very own young child," she added with pride.

• "You had better go back and bring me another one. This is much too ugly. I cannot look at it."

• Annoyed at the words of God, the crow went away and flew all over the earth to search for another young one that would be more beautiful than the one she had brought to God. But no other young bird appeared so beautiful in her eyes as her own. So she returned back to God and said, "I have been all over the world, and I have searched high and low, but young birds more beautiful than mine I have not been able to find."

• Then God smilingly replied, "Quite right. Just so are all mothers. No other child is so beautiful in their eyes as their own."

• Then he blessed the little crows and sent them away into the world with his gifts.

The Foolish Friend Panchatantra/India

• A king took a monkey for a pet. He kept him constantly close at him for his amusement.

• The monkey, fed on the various dishes that the king gave him, grew large and was given respect by all who surrounded the king. Indeed, the king, due to his love and exceeding trust of the monkey, even gave him a sword to carry.

• In the vicinity of the palace the king had a garden with many trees of various sorts. Early in the springtime the king noticed how beautiful the garden was. Its blossoms exuded a magnificent fragrance, while swarms of bees sang praise to the god of love. Thus he entered the grove with his favorite wife. He ordered all his servants to wait for him at the entrance.

• After having pleasantly strolling through and observing the garden, he grew tired and said to his monkey, "I want to sleep a little in this arbor of flowers. Take care that nothing disturbs me!" Having said this, the king fell asleep.

• Presently a bee, pursuing the aroma of the flowers, flew up and lit on his head. Seeing this, the monkey thought angrily, "What is this? Am I to allow this common creature to bite the king before my very eyes?"

• With that he proceeded to drive it away. However, in spite of the monkey's defense, the bee approached the king again and again. Finally, blinded by anger, the monkey drew his sword and struck down the bee with a single blow. However, the same blow also split the king's head.

• The queen, who was sleeping next to the king jumped up in terror. Seeing the crime, she said, "Oh, oh, you foolish monkey! What have you done to the king who placed such trust in you?"

• The monkey explained how it had happened, but thereafter he was scorned by everyone. Thus it is said, "It is better to have a clever enemy than a foolish friend."

The ParrotEngland (Yorkshire)

• There was once a grocer who had a beautiful parrot and it hung in a cage at his shop door. It was a very sensible bird, and very observing. But it proclaimed aloud all that it knew, announcing to everyone who entered the shop the little circumstances which had fallen under its observation.

• One day the parrot observed its master sanding the sugar. Presently in came a woman and asked for some brown sugar. "Sand in the sugar! Sand in the sugar!" vociferated the bird, and the customer rushed out of the shop.

• The indignant grocer rushed to the cage and shook it well. "You abominable bird, if you tell tales again, I will wring your neck!" And again he shook the cage till a cloud of its feathers was flying about the shop.

• Next day it saw its master mixing cocoa powder with brick dust. Presently in came a customer for cocoa powder. "Brick dust in the cocoa!" cried the parrot, eagerly and repeatedly, till the astonished customer believed it, and went away without his cocoa. A repetition of the shaking of the cage ensued, with a warning that such another instance of tale-telling should certainly be punished with death.

• The parrot made internal resolutions never to speak again. Presently, however, it observed its master making shop butter of lard. In came a lady and asked for butter.

• "Nice fresh butter, ma'am, fresh from the dairy," said the shop man

• "Lard in the butter! Lard in the butter!" said the parrot.

• "You scoundrel, you!" exclaimed the shop man, rushing at the cage. Opening it, drawing forth the luckless bird, and wringing its neck, he cast it into the ash pit. But Polly was not quite dead, and after lying quiet for a few minutes, she lifted up her head. She sat up and tried her wings. "They are sound. Great is truth in my own country, but in this dingy England it is at a discount, and lies are at a premium."

• Then spreading her wings, Polly flew away. But whether she ever reached her own land, where truth was regarded with veneration, I have not heard. No, she flew twice round the world in search of it, and could not find it. I wonder whether she has found it now!