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!
