A Mullah Nasruddin / Nasreddin Hoca story
Sowing camel seeds
Mullah NasruddinOne day in early spring, while Mullah Nasruddin was ploughing his field, his friends Hamza and Faruk came up to him and asked, “Mullah, what are you planting here?”
“Camel seeds,” he answered. The Mullah then chatted with his friends for a few minutes before they continued on their way.
Late that summer, Nasruddin was walking out to the field when he saw three camels munching on the wheat growing there. He reined them and led the animals back to his stable, then went to the house and told Fatima, “My camel seeds have at last sprouted, seemingly overnight.”
The next day, Musa, the owner of the camels, finally noticed his animals had escaped their pen. Carefully, he followed their tracks to the Mullah’s place. He knocked at the house.
The Mullah answered the door and Musa said, “My camels ran off, and I followed them here. Give them back to me.”
Nasruddin scoffed, “What sort of bullshit is this? Those camels are the crop that I sowed in my own field.”
Musa took Nasruddin to court. When Bekri, the judge, asked the Mullah to speak in his defense, he said, “Your Honor, those animals are the product of camel seeds I planted months ago.”
Bekri asked him, “Do you have any evidence or witnesses?”
“I most certainly do. Let me get them.” Nasruddin left the court and brought Hamza and Faruk back before the judge.
Bekri asked them, “Did you witness the defendant, Nasruddin, planting camel seeds?”
Faruk said, “Yes, it’s true, we saw it. Early in the spring, we stopped by the Mullah’s place and saw him sowing camel seeds in his field.” Hamza confirmed the facts.
There was nothing left for Musa to say, so the judge said, “I rule in favor of Nasruddin. Case dismissed.”
Excerpted from
Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin
by Ron J. Suresha
now in print from Lethe Press!
Prepare for the Unexpected
Prepare for the Unexpected
“Nobody could climb that tree. It’s way too tall. No way!” yelled Hussein.
“Of course somebody could climb it,” argued Faruk. “Nasruddin, please tell this dunce that this tree is not too tall for someone to climb.”
“I doubt that anyone could climb this tree,” said Hussein, “certainly not even Nasruddin.”
“Of course he can climb it!” retorted Faruk. “He can do nearly anything! Couldn’t you climb it, Nasruddin? I bet if anyone could get up to the top of the tree, it is you.”
Nasruddin bowed slightly and replied modestly, “I can climb it, no doubt.”
“Let’s see you do it, then,” said Faruk.
“I’ll hold your slippers for you while you go up,” said Hussein, perhaps a little too eagerly.
“Well, all right then.” Nasruddin stood back and assessed the tree, and the group of boys, and then the tree again. He rolled up his sleeves, took off his slippers and tucked them into his belt, then spit into his palms as he prepared to scale the tree.
“Wait, wait, Nasruddin!” said Faruk. “You won’t need your shoes in a tree.”
“Yes, leave them here on the ground with us for safekeeping,” chimed in Hussein.
With a gasp and a grunt, Nasruddin heaved himself upward. “You never know — there might be a road at the top of this tree.” he called out as he climbed, “Be prepared, I always say.”
Excerpted from The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin: Stories, Jests, and Donkey Tales of the Beloved Persian Folk Hero
Another example of how Nasruddin outwits the local boys.
Who knows what might possibly exist at the top of the tree? You certainly won’t know unless you start climbing and keep going until you get there.
There are several other Nasruddin stories in which the Mullah finds himself in a tree, the most popular tale sometimes referred to as Cutting the branch he was sitting on, which ends up after a funeral procession at the graveyard.
Another Nasruddin story that involves climbing a tree was omitted from TUSOTIMN because it portrayed cruelty to a bear. I’ll include it in “Naughty Nasruddin.”