Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-15
NAsR-IppIN HopJAH.
Anecdotes That Have Amused the
Turks For Centuries.


teenth century there lived an old Turk
ish hodjah, or teacher who was the
butt of the wit Of his age. Nasr-Iddin
the name which his gravestone al
Konia. in Asia Minor, still bears, Is
one of the most familiar In Ottoman
history. The Turk Of every rank ir
life, whether a street porter, or
member of the sultan's palace staff, OF
Lrisoner in the secluded harem
whiles away leisure hours by exchang-
ing hodjah stories; the mere mention
of the name of Nasr-Iddin produces
smile, which is invariably followed
by an anecdote and ringing laughter
A few Of the hundreds of the stories
which are in circulation are appended
The Cat and the Liver.
The Hodjah was very fond Of fried
liver, but whenever he carried any OF
1t home his wife who was equally fond
of It, cooked 1t and ate 1t during her
husbands absence. One evening just
after the Hodjah had purchased three
pounds Of liver his wife ate 1t as usual
and placed some ordinary food before
him.
See here, wife. where is the liver?
he asked angrily.
1.-The cat ate It," was the wife's re-
ply.
The Hodjah Immediately took the
balances, and placing the cat In one
pan and the weights In the other
found that the cat weighed just three
pounds, the same as the liver which
he had brought home. He stood
thoughtfully looking at the cat fol
moment, and then said:
IF this is the cat, where Is the liver;
or II this Is the liver, where Is the
cat?
The Hodjah's Calendar.
The sacred month Of Ramazan diff
fers from the other months Of the Mo-
hammedan year, for then all Moslems
are required to fast. The Hodjat
found 1t difficult to keep account OF
the days of the month, and so when
Ramazan came he set UP an earther
pot and threw into 1t stone each day
that he might know when the period
of fasting would be over.
One day the Hodjah's daughter saw
him throwing a stone into the pot, and
a little later as she was playing about
she threw in several handfuls Of stones
It happened that on the same day q
neighbor asked the Hodjah how many
days of the month had passed.
wait a minute" said the Hodjah
"and I will tell you exactly"
He went to the pot, and counting the
stones in it, found 1875.
THAT Is too many" he meditated
TT will never do to give such num-
ber."
After a moments reflection he re-
turned to his neighbor and replied:
"Ninety-five."
"Effendi. how can there be ninety
five days In a month";"
II am sorry" replied the Hodjah
"I made the number as small as pos
sible, but IL you wish to believe the
pot, today Is the one hundred and six
ty-fifth of the month"
The Hare.
The Hodjah while hunting one day
caught a hare. but as 1t was the first
that he had ever seen he did not know
what kind Of an animal 1t was.
"I will take this strange thing home
and show 1t to the people" he meditat-
ed aloud. Somebody may know what
1t is"
Putting the hare into the bag, ne
fastened the opening securely and
started for home.
II have captured a wonderful ami
NAL" excitedly cried the Hodjah to
his wife as he entered the house. 1T
is here In this bag, but don't touch It,
am going to ask the neighbors to
come and examine 1t; perhaps some
of them may know what 1t is."
The Hodjah had hardly left the
house when his wife, overcome with
curiosity to know what the animal was
like, opened the bag. The hare imme-
diately sprang out and escaped.
She tried to recapture 1t, but the
animal darted between her feet and
ran out of the house. The frightened
wife, picking up grain measure, the
nearest thing at hand, put 1t into the
bag and bound 1t up.
In the meantime the Hodjah had In
vited the Judge. the mayor and the
other chief officials Of the city to come
and inspect the wonderful animal
AS they gathered about the Hod1ah
requested them all to sit In a circle
and with hands raised ready to seize
the animal should it attempt to escape
while he himself stood in the center
holding the bag.
Again cautioning them not to let the
animal escape he opened the bag and
shook 1t. The peck measure fell ou,
upon the floor The Hodjah was toe
astonished to speak. The people said:
1T takes four Of them to make a
bushel"
The Justice of Allah.
Some boys brought bag Of nuts to
the Hodjah and asked him to divide
them just as equally as Allah would.
VERY WELL" replied the Hodjah.
To one boy he gave a single nut, to
another a handful and to the third q
bag half full.
What sort Of division do you cal
that" cried the astonished boys
THAT is the way Allah would divide
them," replied the Hodjah. wait,
will divide them as one Of his SER
wants." and he divided them equally.
The Mules Egg.
The Hodjah saw a watermelon In the
bazaar and asked the merchant what II
was
That's mule egg," replied the mer-
chant.
The Hodjah stood looking at II
thoughtfully for a few moments and
then said:
II want a mule. I'll buy 1t, and
hatch one" and paying his money, he
started for home with the watermelon
On the way he accidentally dropped the
melon. and it happened that just as
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