The Fool, the Sheep and the End of the WorldA folk tale told by David Heathfield

Lesson Aims:To find out about the folk character ‘Nasreddin Hodja’ and the morals in his stories

Lesson Objectives:Read and research a folk tale, retelling the story in your own manner

Nasreddin Hodja is the name of the wise fool in so many Turkish tales, and tales beyond Turkey through the Middle East and North Africa and far into the Balkans, into Russia, as far as India and China.

Hodja Nasreddin had a lamb that was now fully grown. His neighbours came ‘Nasreddin Hodja, your sheep is fat. Let us go and slaughter it by the river. The sun is shining. We will have a feast!’‘I don’t think so,’ said Nasreddin.‘But, Nasreddin, haven’t you heard? The world is going to end tomorrow!’‘The world is going to end...? Very well.’

And they led the sheep down to the riverside, and there in the warm sunshine, Nasreddin prepared and slaughtered his sheep. And he butchered the sheep.

In the warm sunshine his friends took off their clothes and jumped into the river, splashing and swimming in the fresh water.

Nasreddin made a spit, built a fire, and began to roast the meat. The friends, the neighbours, splashed in the water, enjoying themselves when Nasreddin worked and worked and worked. After a long time, the smell of delicious roasted meat reached their nostrils.

They climbed out of the river.‘Nasreddin, the food smells so good but… Nasreddin, where are our clothes?’‘I used them to make the fire.’‘You burned our clothes to cook the sheep!’‘Yes,’ said Nasreddin. ‘Why are you concerned? After all, the world is going to end tomorrow.’

Nasreddin Hodja stories

Nasreddin Hodja appears in many cultures and countries; from Albania, Greece and Bosnia, to Romania, Turkey and Armenia.

Nasreddin is shown as a wise man, but often he is portrayed as a fool or the butt of a joke.

His stories usually have a joke and a moral about how we should treat others.

Researching Nasreddin Stories:

After looking through any of these websites (or using a search engine) choose a story to retell

You can choose how to tell your story

PowerPoint

Comic strip

Re-writing the story

Role-play / drama

Tales of the Turkish Trickster

http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/hodja.html

Nasreddin Hodja stories (with pictures)

http://u.cs.biu.ac.il/~schiff/Net/front.html