July 06, 2004

Mulla Nasruddin Hoja. (spelling varies)This week sees the festival in Aksehir which celebrates, the arch-joker of the Islamic world. Turks claim he is buried in Aksehir, but Afghans and Iranians believe him to be one of them, while he is equally famous in Albania, North Africa and many other countries . There are absolute shedloads of Nasruddin stories on the Net, ranging from the traditional to more modern gags. This thread has some interesting links, and the Mefiots put together a creditable array a couple of years ago.
  • I love Mullah Nasruddin. Grnad psot.
  • What Nostril said. A friend gave a bottle of cheap liquor to to Mulla Nasrudin as a birthday present. Later he asked the Mulla how it was. "It was just exactly right," said the Mulla. "What do you mean just right?" asked the friend. "Well," said Nasrudin, "if it had been any better you wouldn't have given it to me, if it had been any worse I couldn't have drunk it." [nb--last sentence was all in caps which I've changed here] Thanks, Plegmund, for reminding me.
  • Thanks - brilliant post.
  • Whan kids, my brother gave me half a dozen Nasrudin booklets, filled with illustrations in a wacky style. I loved the humor and the his happy, carefree image.
  • A bronze Hoja riding his donkey backwards sits on my bookshelf above me reminding me that it's good to see where you've been, even if you can't see where you're going. The older tales have some funny stuff.