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BLACK BOOK
Once upon a time the Hodja was a judge and one day a man
came to him.
Your cow has killed mine!, he cried.
The Hodja shouted:
You silly fellow, how can the cow know that it is a crime to
kill another cow. Case dismissed!
Oh sorry, said the man. I said it wrong. My cow has killed
yours.
Then, this is another problem, said the Hodja. We'll open
the black book and see what it says.
BLANKET IS GONE
At midnight the Hodja heard a noise. Two
men were struggling outside. The Hodja
got out of his bed with a blanket over him
and went to the front of his house. He asked them why they
were fighting. Without answering, one of them took the
blanket that covered the Hodja and they both fled. So the poor
Hodja returned to his bed again.
What were they fighting about?, asked his wife.
About our blanket, said the Hodja. Now the blanket is gone, so the struggle is over.
BUSY-BODY
One day, people said to the
Your wife walks from house to
walk so much,. Alright, said
our house, I'll tell her.
Hodja:
house, tell her she mustn't
the Hodja. If she comes to
CREDIT
A man wanted money from the Hodja on credit, but the Hodja said:
I have no money, but I can give you credit. How much do you want?
DARKNESS
One day the Hodja lost his ring. He searched and searched, but he couldn't find it. Then he got
out the house and began to search the ring on the road.
People passing by asked him:
Hodja Effendi, what are you doing?
I've lost my ring at home, and now I'm searching it.
Why don't you search it inside?
The house is too dark. I can't see anything, so I'm searching my ring outside!
DAYS OF A MONTH
In Ramazan, a special month for Moslems, the Hodja began it by putting a stone in a cup, to
know which day it was. So, every morning he put a stone into the cup without knowing that one
of his friends put a handful of stones in it, to play a trick on him.
A few days later a man asked the Hodja: Hodja Effendi, how many days have passed since we
started Ramazan?,
The Hodja told him to wait for a minute, ran to his cup, counted the stones, came back and said:
Up to today 45 days of Ramazan have passed.
But Hodja, said the man. There are only 30 days in a month. How is it possible?
Oh, be satisfied with that, said the Hodja. If you had counted the stones in the cup you would
have seen, that it is the hundredandtwentieth day of Ramazan.
DUCK SOUP
The Hodja had nothing to eat in his house. So he went for a walk beside the lake of Akshehir.
Ducks were swimming in the lake. Then he began to drink the water of the lake.
Hodja Effendi, what are you doing there? asked a man.
I am drinking duck soup, he replied.
EASY METHOD OF THE BIRTH
In the village a woman was giving birth to her child and as it
was a difficult birth the relatives waited for many hours. So
they sent for the Hodja.
He came, listened to their story and went away. He returned in
a few moments with a toy that made a squeaking sound. They
asked him why and he said:
Because the child will hear the voice of the toy and will very quickly come out to play.