The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-10-14
TALES TOLD BY TURKS
ODD CONCEPTION OF MORALITY
AND JUSTICE MANIFESTED.
stories Which show . Perverted
acknowledgements OF Wit
ana shrewd Deception Held OF
Higher Account Than simple
Honesty OF Trusting Innocence.

The professional sso-y-,e,ler sin exists
in Turkey. In that land books are not in
every nome, as IN this. the newspapers are
Few and far between. and never the inter
estlng sheets they are here. II follows
that person who has fund Of bright
stories which he can tell well Is IN great
demand. These story-teilers are usually
FOUND IN the large public restaurants.
where they attrsct customers and after
story collect their fees from the crowd. In
the month OF Ramazin. when night is
turned into a carnival OF reve-ry. the story
teller IS al his best. Gsyiy dressed, in
jacket. waistcoat, and full, haggy trousers
OF gandy co.ors, richly embroidered In
gold. he sits cross-iegged, on a raised dais
above his audience Quick-witted. fertile
IN imagination. he speaks With inimitable
action. accompanying his description Of
every scene with all the accessories of pro-
tudins tongue, changing expression. elo-
Quent shrug. and gesticu.afion that his
subject demands-gestures and signs whose
fnli significance can be appreciated only
by natiye-born Oriental. Sometimes
the story-teilers go in pairs. like
karaghens and Hadji-aivat, WHO are
the acknowledged princes of story
teiiers IN Constantinople-ado the
observation-disclosures style. after the
fashion of the end men in the o,d-tlme min
strel entertainment. Probably the clever
est and brightest story-ieller of them all is
Nasartin Hodja-
Nasartn is always represented as an ell
derry man. with flowing white beard and
innocent expression. dressed in a long
gown and turhan and holding cane In his
hand. His stories are numbered, like those
OF Aesop, and comprise l3s in the original
The language is Turkish and the style
pithy and concise.
Among his stories are the following:
One day a wealthy man called upon Ma
sartin Hodja to ask him how much he
would charge to educate his son. Three
hundred piasters.' said the Hodja. What
are you talking aoout7" exclaimed the
man. That is too much. l can buy six
donkeys for 800 piasters.' THAT Is well
SAID, answered Nasartin. but If you buy
SIX donkeys with your 800 p!asters instead
OF educating Your son you will be master OF
seven donkeys. including your son.
one day Nasartin Hodia went TO the
Turkish bath. and, finding no one there.
seized the favorable opportunity and be-
gan 10 sing. AS his voice was very shrill,
ana the vacancy of the bath added to its
eject. sound that echoed and re-echoed
was the result. AT this exhibition of his
voice Nasartin became very much pleased
with himself, and said: II really had no
idea that my voice had been so highly cul-
ished his bath he rushed out. and, going
to the tower of the mosque began to ex-
hipit his new-found accomplishment by re-
peating Mohammeds prayer. But the
Muezzin. startled by this unexpected and
inharmonious voice. seized stick, and,
rushing after him TO the tower, began to
beat him vigorously, saying: BE quiet,
you donkey! What are YOU shouting like
this for? What an inharmonious voice
you have"'
Then Nasartin fell TO weeping loudly and
said: Isn't there a merciful man any
where who viii build a Turkish bath on
top of this tower. wherein can sing. so
that this evil man will be forced to appre-
ciate my fine voice2"
The lesson this teaches Is that surround
ings do not of necessity make ability
One day Nasartin entered a watermelon
field and began picking every melon that
came In his way. While thus engaged in
picking and putting them in his bag, the
gardener spied him. and. rushing to him,
took him roughly by the neck saying,
What business have YOU here. man.
Then Nasartin. surprised and uncertain
what answer 1t was best TO make. began
hesitatingiy to say: MY son--the other
day-therc was such a great storm-do
you know and the gardener without re-
leasing his hold, said: well. what OF it,"
Then Nasartin continued: 1T was this
storm that brought me here THAT is all
right enough" said the gardener. but
who picked these melons,"
And Nasartin, still casting about for a
suitable reply. answered: 1T was because
the storm was so strong, was obliged to
hold to anything that came In my way
and these melons could not resist the
force. 'All right again." said the garden
er, but who threw them into this bag?'
This was too much for Nasartins logic
and he could not think of anything else
to say, excepting: We'll. / was just think
ing about that point myself when you In
terrupted me- This pleased the gardener
80 much that he released his hold and
Nasartin pursued his reflections unmo-
Tested
Nasartins wife often complained to her
husband saying: 1T is shame that you
have never given mt picnic near a river
on the green grass. ! have never had any
thing that bore heavy on your shoulders"
Chat is anything that was cost or bur-
den TO him.)
Upon hearing this. one day Nasartin
took his wife upon his back, and. carrying
her into the garden, set her down near a
large tub of water.
'"rhere," he said. you unappreciative
woman, Sit by this tub of water on the
green grass. and have all the fun Won
want. and hereafter never complain that
you have never had any fun that bore
heavy on my shoulders"
One day while Nasartin was wandering
around IN the fields, he came across
woman hanging from the branch OF a tree.
Seeing this. he ran TO get saw. and be-
gan eagerly to cut few branches from
the same tree. Some of his friends, find-
ing him doing this. asked what he was GO
Ing to do with the branches. to which he
answered: 1T looks as though women
like TO hang themselves from this kind of
a tree. For this reason | going to
graft the trees in my garden. 40 IL will be
convenient for my wife-"-New York