Either or

By -
Don’t let choices choose for you. There may be a choice of choices. This reminds me of a story:

Friday noon at the mosque, the Imam decided to preach by making people feel, in their own being, the meaning of salvation and damnation.

“Let’s see,” he said, "those of you who choose to go to Hell, stand up!”

Nobody rose.

“Now, those who want to go to Heaven,” continued the Imam with intent.

Everybody stood up. Except Nasrudin.

The Imam fixed him with a blameful piercing eye:

“Don’t you think, brother, that it is high time to decide?"

“I did,” replied Hodja with a deep honest gaze. “I want to stay here.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

By -
This reminds me of a story 111 Teaching Stories of Nasreddin Hodja, the Wise Fool of the East. © 2007 -2019 Ioan Tenner and Daniel Tenner Foreword There is nothing new in the world but for a newborn all the stories are new. For the newcomer to Nasreddin Hodja, the 111 stories that follow promise a discovery. As for Nasreddin’s old friends, they are a modest aide-mémoire. This booklet was mainly written for my imaginary grand children. It collects the traditional Hodja fables under this title because, to advise or teach, I do not like to tell one directly how to think or what to do. Instead, almost everything “reminds me of a story”. Often, it is a Nasreddin story. As the author is a shameless thief of wisdom, the last concern here is to be original. Of late, I care to plant some good seed, not to boast as when I was young: “Me! Me! Me!” These stories belong to the world, they were told for centuries and only the narration is mine. I worked hard to rewrite the
Read more

Stone soup

By -
Image
The best way to teach and to convince is to act like Socrates. Be a midwife not a schoolmaster. Come with seemingly empty hands, armed with discrete wisdom. Cook new knowledge from the ingredients everybody has and do not know how to value. When the skilled adviser did his work, people believe they are the ones who made it. This reminds me of a story: The wind and the looting hordes had blown away even the little hospitality a pilgrim might have expected. The farmers shut themselves behind their walls, with relatives, servants, cows, sheep and poultry, all hoping to forget the world outside. Nobody would offer this poor traveller the charity of some food and a sheltered corner for a night. After a good dozen of frozen doors slammed into his nose, Nasr Eddin tried a different way... He knocked on the tall wooden gate of a rich household on the hillside. "Allah help you!" said a servant, "we have nothing to give today." "A master cook of the kings d
Read more

Bibliography of Nasruddin story books and publications

By -
TO SEE THE 111 NASREDDIN STORIES CLICK HERE Then, read the stories upwards; as many other things these stories are piled-up upside down, or better said, downside-up. Well, I am kidding. In fact I published them from first to last but the blogging logic believes that old posts are to be chased away by the new ones. Bibliography of Nasreddin story books and publications[i] Compiled 2004, Ioan Tenner 202 jokes of Nasreddin Hodja. Minyatür ed. Tepeba¸si, Istanbul, Turkey : Galeri Minyatür, [198-?] Ak, Vedat, Nasreddin Hoca fikralari, Ankara, Karde¸s Matbaasi, 1963. Aksöy M., A., Nasreddin Hoca ve hikâyeleri, Istanbul, 1958 Alekuzei, Rabani, Süsse Geschichten [von] Mula Nasroddin. Aus dem Altpersischen van Rabani Alekuzei. Illustriert von Elfriede Weidenhaus. [Stuttgart] Collispress [c1969] Ali Elmi, Haj Muhammad Bookstore, Kitabi Mulla Nasreddin Musawwar/ Book of Mulla Nasreddin, Illustrated, Elmi Press, 1331 Persian Solar year, 5th ed Aryanpur Kashani
Read more