Full Cover Reveal of The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin redesign

Bear Bones Books is pleased to announce the pending release of the redesigned edition of The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin: Stories, jests, and donkey tales of the beloved Persian folk hero, collected & retold by Ron J. Suresha.

Once, when young Nasruddin was acting up in class by distracting his friends with endless antics, jests, and stories, his irate teacher uttered a curse: “Whatever you do or say,  people will only laugh at you.” Now, eight centuries later, children, adults, and wise fools everywhere are still laughing at Mullah Nasruddin (Nasreddin Hoca), one of the world’s most beloved folk characters. This entertaining and insightful retelling of more than a year’s worth of daily Mullah stories brings the famed Persian legend into the Twenty-First Century. Storytellers, folklorists, Sufis, comedians, wisdom seekers, and everyone who loves to laugh will be enriched and enlightened by the timeless wit, inscrutable wisdom, and uncommon sense of humor of Mullah Nasruddin.

~ An Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award Winner

~ A Storytelling World Honor Book

“A fine pick and very highly recommended.”    — Midwest Book Review

softcover: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1982055677

hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZD8T75S

ebook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0793GYM8S

audiobook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECFH8J0/

New collection of Nasruddin “favourites” – now in print!

Bear Bones Books announces the publication of a new collection of the most popular Nasreddin Hoca folk tales and jokes, in multiple formats on several platforms available everywhere.

Treasured, oft-told stories of the famous funny folk hero

by Ron J. Suresha

Nasreddin Hoca, the eight-centuries-old “wise fool” character originating from Turkey and the Levant, is the subject of thousands of funny, wise tales, jokes, and anecdotes told across the Middle and Far East and retold today around the world. 

Extensively researched and carefully chosen from beloved authentic sources by an award-winning author, these pithy stories and folk tales are certain to bring readers a smile, nod, or chuckle of self-recognition on every page.

More than one hundred of Nasreddin Hoca’s most endearing, enduring stories, gathered here by an award-winning author, will amuse, illuminate, and captivate readers of all ages with Hoca’s ageless, unique humour and universal humanity. 

Favourite Tales of Nasreddin Hoca
  • Bear Bones Books
  • Release Date: March 1, 2020
  • ISBN: 1230003736524
  • Language: English
  • Pages: 208

Middle of the mat

A Mullah Nasruddin / Nasreddin Hoca story

Middle of the mat

Mullah Nasruddin
Mullah Nasruddin

Once when Mullah Nasruddin was traveling with Faik and Hussein, the three men realized they would have to shelter overnight together in the cold. Faik suggested, “We should all buy a mat and a blanket together.” Hussein agreed.

Mullah stated firmly, “I’ll buy the mat and share it with you, but not the blanket. And you must agree that I will not sleep at either end of the mat.” And he paid the other two for just his share of the mat.

Faik and Hussein could not obtain the mat without the Mullah’s contribution but, thinking they would not share the blanket with Nasruddin, they agreed. The three men bought the mat and the other two bought the blanket. 

Nasruddin stretched out in the center of the mat and promptly fell asleep. Now, if the other two wanted to share it, they either had to sleep on either side of him, holding their end of the blanket, or tear the blanket in half so that each man could have his own.

Nasruddin enjoyed the warmth and cover of the blanket, snoring snugly between his two companions, without paying so much as a copper.

Retold from Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin by Ron J. Suresha

Just in time for April Fools Day, 2021: now available in hardcover!

Mullah Nasruddin books both now in Hardcover!

“Uncommon Sense” & “Extraordinary Adventures” — acclaimed Mullah Nasruddin story collections now in Hardcover from Bear Bones Books

Just in time for April Fools Day!

Both of Ron J. Suresha’s acclaimed Mullah Nasruddin story collections are now available in hardcover!

Mullah Nasruddin (Nasreddin Hoca), the eight-centuries-old “wise fool” character originating from the Levant, is the subject of thousands of funny, wise tales, jokes, and anecdotes told across the Middle and Far East, and retold today around the world. 

These pithy stories and folk tales, extensively researched and carefully chosen from beloved authentic sources by an award-winning author, are certain to bring readers a smile, nod, or chuckle of self-recognition on every page.

Hundreds of Nasreddin Hoca’s most endearing, enduring stories, gathered here by an award-winning author in two volumes, will amuse, illuminate, and captivate readers with Nasruddin’s ageless, unique humor and universal humanity. 

#MullahNasruddin #NasreddinHoca

~

The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin:

Stories, jests, and donkey tales of the beloved Persian folk hero

ISBN: 979-8722301024

NSR3c cov

~

Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin:

Naughty, unexpurgated stories of the beloved wise fool from the Middle and Far East

ISBN: 979-8723457614

100+ Favourite Tales of Nasreddin Hoca — now in print!

100+ Favourite Tales of Nasreddin Hoca:

Treasured, oft-told stories of the famous funny folk hero

Collected and retold by Ron J. Suresha

Published by Bear Bones Books.

~Now available from Barnes & Noble!

Get the softcover edition here.

Get the digital edition here.

~
FTN_UK frcovsm
Nasreddin Hoca, the eight-centuries-old “wise fool” character originating from Turkey and the Levant, is the subject of thousands of funny, wise tales, jokes, and anecdotes told across the Middle and Far East, and retold today around the world.
Extensively researched and carefully chosen from beloved authentic sources by an award-winning author, these pithy stories and folk tales are certain to bring readers a smile, nod, or chuckle of self-recognition on every page.
More than one hundred of Nasreddin Hoca’s most endearing, enduring stories, gathered and retold here by an award-winning author, will amuse, illuminate, and captivate readers of all ages with Hoca’s ageless, unique humour and universal humanity.

~

From the Introduction to 100+ Favourite Tales of Nasreddin Hoca

Eight hundred years ago, somewhere in the Levant between Europe and Asia, the famous old wise fool Nasreddin Hoca was but a silly young boy, with hardly more common sense than a piece of paper.

Instead of staying still and paying attention in school, Nasreddin played the fool, constantly distracting his pals with antics, jokes, and stories.
Once, when young Nasreddin was acting particularly troublesome in class, his irate teacher cursed him: “From now on, whatever you do or say, people shall only laugh and laugh at you.”
And so, even today, people everywhere are still laughing at Nasreddin Hoca, one of the world’s funniest and most beloved folk characters.

~

A yogurt lake

One fine morning, Nasreddin went to Lake Akşehir with a bowlful of cultured yogurt and a long wooden spoon. He squatted at the water’s edge and began ladling yogurt into the lake.
His pal Hussein saw him and asked, “What are you trying to do there, Nasreddin.”
He continued carefully spooning yogurt and replied, “I’m adding starter to the lake in order to turn it into yogurt.”
Hussein asked, “You can do that with milk, stupid, but not with water. Are you serious? Do you really believe you can turn the lake into yogurt?”
“I know I can’t. I know it won’t,” said Nasreddin. “But just imagine — what if I could, and what if it did?”

Get the softcover edition or the digital edition, now at BN.com.

New edition of *Uncommon Sense* now available

A new softcover edition of

The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin

is now available from Bear Bones Books on Amazon.com!

The Uncommon Sense of the Immortal Mullah Nasruddin, 2nd revised edition

The Kindle version of the new edition will be available very soon.

The audiobook, narrated by Ted Brooks, is still available from Audible.com.

*

AN ANNE IZARD STORYTELLERS’ CHOICE AWARD WINNER

A STORYTELLING WORLD HONOR BOOK

Order your copy of the 2nd revised edition now!

*

Coming soon:

The first revised edition of

Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin

Ungrateful son of a donkey, part 2

A Mullah Nasruddin / Nasreddin Hoca story

 

Ungrateful son of a donkey, part 2

Mullah Nasruddin
Mullah Nasruddin

 

[Continued from last week]

*    *     *

So Nasruddin traveled to see the Sultan in the great city of Woden, there was a very important king. Mullah entered the palace and came to the royal assembly.

He saw the king, bowed, and sat down among the people. Then he looked at the king, and whispered aloud, “Ahh, this is my son!”

Then he turned to other courtiers nearby, and said again, “Ahh, this is my son!” A few persons heard and reacted with shock.

The Mullah then spoke aloud, “Yes indeed, no doubt that is my son.”

Most of the courtiers heard it, but no one thought much of it, or perhaps they thought that the strange mullah was confused. But he continued repeating the same words, “This is my son.”

Shortly one of the courtiers came up to Nasruddin and asked him, “Pardon me, kind Mullah, what did you say?”

Nasruddin stood up, pointed to the Sultan, and announced, “This indeed is my son!”

This scandalized everyone in court, and the enraged Sultan declared, “Lock this madman up!”

Now Mullah was seized and bound with ropes on her arms and legs. As they were trying to subdue him, he said, “The children of donkeys have no gratitude. You, Sultan, are you not the son of my ass? Have I not made you and given you to the teacher so that he could teach you? Now you get a royal title, and I’m tied up. If you’ll let me go, I swear I’ll go right to your mother and cut off her tail!”

The Sultan became even angrier and ordered his men, “Take him out of here and execute him immediately!”

The vizier, a very wise man, intervened, He whispered to the Sultan, “It is better if you let this fool go, because clearly he does not know what he’s saying. No man with any brains can utter such words in your Majesty’s presence.” Thus Mullah was freed from his shackles, taken to the city limits, and released.

Finally he returned to Halil and told him, “Your words are true. The children of donkeys have no gratitude. The son of my ass got the kingship, and while in court he had his soldiers grab and restrain me. Now I am going to his mother and cut off her cursed tail. If you want it, I’ll give it to you for free. But first I must deal with the tail!”

The teacher replied, “Agreed. You must cut her tail off, because her son possesses no manners whatsoever. Then if you want to give me the tail, I’ll use it until I die.”

So Nasruddin went out to the stable, cut off Karakacan’s tail, and delivered it to the teacher.

 

Excerpted from

Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin
by Ron J. Suresha

now in print from Lethe Press

~

Ungrateful son of a donkey, part 1

A Mullah Nasruddin / Nasreddin Hoca story

 

Ungrateful son of a donkey

Mullah Nasruddin
Mullah Nasruddin

One day, the Mullah’s donkey, Karakacan, gave birth to a foal. Believing himself the father, Mullah thought, Since now I have two donkeys, I shall send my younger son to a teacher to instruct him, so he will be taught, he will learn to read, and he will come to teach me.

So Nasruddin took the young donkey to the schoolteacher, Halil, and told him, “This, my son, wants to be educated. Please tutor him so that he will be less a fool than me.”

Halil replied in astonishment, “What are you asking me? This son of a donkey should be taught

Nasruddin just nodded.

“Well, pay me up front my proper tuition fee, plus room and board. Then I’ll gladly accept your son as a pupil and teach him everything I know.”

So Nasruddin counted out to Halil an exorbitant payment. The teacher took the reins of the donkey and told the Mullah, “Now go in peace. Do not worry, I will take care of your child and teach him well. I will treat him as if he were my own son.”

After Mullah left, Halil said to his wife, “That Nasruddin has gone completely out of his wits. I have never seen such idiocy. Everyone knows that you can’t teach the son of an ass not to be an ass.”

The next day, Halil took Nasruddin’s son of a donkey to the cattle market and sold it.

Nasruddin patiently waited a week, and then impatiently another three days, then he went to the teacher. When he arrived, he saw that his son was not anywhere to be found, so he asked Halil, “Where has your student gone?”

The teacher replied, “He is not here. I sent him not far from here, him and his friend, on an errand. But rest assured, he is progressing well in his studies and is very popular with the other students.”

“That’s good to hear. I was afraid he would misbehave with you as often as his mother has troubled me,” said the Mullah. “I’m going now, but I’ll return to check on him in ten days. “

Halil said, “Go ahead home and enjoy yourself. Your son has not told us he is lacking in any way. Rest assured he is in good hands.”

So Nasruddin walked home, and in ten days he returned to Halil’s house.

When he arrived he saw that his son was not there, so he asked, “Where has my son, your student, gone?”

Halil embraced the Mullah and said proudly, “Congratulations! Your son turned out to be one of my finest students. Simply brilliant. He was graduated with honors.”

Mullah was very pleased to hear that his son was a diligent student, and he asked the teacher, “When will I be able to see him? I have missed him all these weeks.”

Halil replied, “In fact, your son is no longer here. I sent him to another city to instruct other students of mine. Your son has become a very accomplished legal scholar and you should be very proud of him.”

“I am indeed a proud father, Halil, just as you must be a proud teacher of such an outstanding pupil. But I would like to be able to see him and talk with him about certain domestic affairs. The boy has not seen his father in months now, and I am certain he would like to see his mother as well.”

“Nasruddin, now that your son has become an authority on certain aspects of law, his time is truly at a premium. Go back home now, I will write him a letter to ask that you may come to him. Then I’ll write you a letter and let you know when and where you can meet him.”

Nasruddin said, “Okay then, I’ll just wait to hear from you.”

The Mullah returned home. He waited many days and weeks, but he saw no letter from the teacher and no greeting. He went to the teacher and said to him, “Well, Halil, here I am.”

The teacher said, “Just today I was going to write you a letter to give you a very nice message from your son.”

Mullah said, “Really? Come on, tell me what he wrote to you!”

Halil informed him, “It’s absolutely fabulous news. You won’t believe it.”

“Try me.”

“Your son wrote that last week he and his entourage moved to the capitol city. He has just been appointed the Sultan.”

This news well pleased Nasruddin, who said, “I shall now go and visit my son.”

The teacher replied, “All right, go see your son. He is in a city called Woden. But when you arrive there, do not tell anyone that you are his father, for he now holds significant title and prestige. If you go see him in court, definitely don’t identify yourself as his parent. It would be considered the height of rudeness. Also if you speak to him at the wrong moment, he’ll be sure to have you whipped within an inch of your life.”

Nasruddin became very angry and declared, “I’ll go see him, and talk to him about anything I like, and I am not afraid of him attacking me!”

So Nasruddin traveled to see the Sultan …

[continued next week]

Excerpted from

Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin
by Ron J. Suresha

now in print from Lethe Press

~

Nasruddin on sale all July on Smashwords!

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NSRfrcovawardstickersHappy July!
All this month my two acclaimed collections of Mullah Nasruddin / Nasruddin Hoja folklore are half-off at Smashwords.
This includes both:

Get your discount on all Smashwords titles all this month. Just use the code SSW25 at checkout.

Small consolation

A Mullah Nasruddin / Nasreddin Hoca story

 

Small consolation

Mullah Nasruddin
Mullah Nasruddin

One day as Nasruddin was traveling, he met on the road an elderly Turkman who halted him and asked, “Tell me, sir, are you a mullah?”

Nasruddin answered, “Yes, as it so happens, I am.”

The fellow clasped his hands and implored him, “Our small tribe has no imam. Please come with me to our village, and you can serve our tribe as our spiritual leader.”

Nasruddin agreed, and so the men continued on their journey. After they had walked for hours, they came to a crossroads, where they happened to meet another fellow, a rather brawny Turkman with an ink-black beard, riding a donkey. He asked the first Turkman, “Who is this man with you?”

Holding Nasruddin’s hand, the elder smiled and answered, “He is our beloved new imam. I’m taking him right now to our tribe, which has been without a religious leader for more than a year.”

The second Turkman jumped off his donkey and came up to the men. “You must surrender this mullah to us. My tribe hasn’t had an imam in nine years.” And he grabbed the mullah’s other wrist.

“Screw you, loser,” said the first man, pulling hard on Nasruddin’s arm. “We recruited him hours ago.”

“Let go of him, you filthy swine,” the second one yelled, yanking the Mullah’s arm in the other direction, “my tribe needs him more. Give him to us!”

As the men argued, they pulled the Mullah back and forth like a rope in a tug of war, wrenching his arms.

Finally, the second man pulled out a huge knife and yelled, “Enough! Release him, or I’ll slit his throat. That way, he’ll be of no benefit to either your tribe or ours.”

The Mullah, caught between a Turk and a hard place, trembled with fear.

The first man, not backing down in the least, said to the Mullah, “Don’t worry, effendi — I hereby swear, if this bastard kills you, I’ll murder his donkey to avenge your death!”

 

Excerpted from

Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin
by Ron J. Suresha

now in print from Lethe Press

~

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