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
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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.
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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 Dream
1001 Nights
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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?"
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"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 Serpent
Aesop
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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.
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Injuries may be forgiven, but not
forgotten
An Unusual Ride
Switzerland/Germany
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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!"
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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 Fontaine
The 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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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 Fledglings
Romania
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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.
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"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
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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.
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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 Parrot
England (Yorkshire)
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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.
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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!