Nasreddin Hodja is the name of the wise fool in so many Turkish tales, and tales beyond Turkey through the Middle East and North Africa and far into the Balkans, into Russia, as far as India and China… Hodja Nasreddin had a lamb that was now fully grown. His neighbours came. ‘Nasreddin Hodja, your sheep is fat. Let us go and slaughter it by the river. The sun is shining. We will have a feast!’ ‘I don’t think so,’ said Nasreddin. ‘But, Nasreddin, haven’t you heard? The world is going to end tomorrow!’ ‘The world is going to end…? Very well.’ And they led the sheep down to the ... read more

A Cap Seller and the Monkeys There was a cap seller in a city. He used to go from village to village to sell the caps. His way lay through a forest. It was a hot summer day and it was very hot. He got tired. To get some rest he sat under a shaded tree. Soon he fell asleep under the shadow of the tree. Many monkeys were living on that tree. When they saw the caps they climbed down the tree and each one of them put a cap on their head. Then they climbed up the tree again. The cap seller woke up after some time. He found that his caps were missing. By chance he looked up and saw the ... read more

The Jackal and the Foolish Tiger One night, the jackal, decided to leave the forest and visit the neighboring village. There he happened to meet a bitch and fell in love with her. Soon, the bitch became pregnant. Her delivery date was fast approaching, and the jackal grew increasingly nervous. So, they left to the forest which he felt, was safer. He warned the human beings in the village could take away the pups. The bitch thought this was good advice, and they decided to leave for the forest. The couple reached the forest and the jackal went searching for a safe place. He found an aband ... read more

THE DOG AND THE BONE Once a stray dog while searching for food came to a butcher's shop. There he got a bone with some meat on it. So, he lifted it and ran to a safe place to enjoy it at ease. He chewed the bone for a very long time and this made him quite thirsty. So, he went to a river to quench his thirst. It took the bone along, as it was worried that some other dog might not take it away. As the dog stood on a bridge across the river, it looked around to see if it could safely put the bone down while it quenched its thirst. By chance, he saw his reflection in the water from ov ... read more

THE MANGO TREE Once there lived a lazy man in a village. His only source of income was a mango tree, which was planted in the backyard of his house. One day, one of his relatives came to his house. At breakfast, lunch and dinner, only mangoes were served to the relative. He got fed up of this and thought of a plan. At night, when the lazy man was sleeping, the relative quietly woke up, cut down the tree and fled away. Next day, when the man saw that the tree was cut down, he cried a lot. After few years, the same relative again came to his house. By now, the man had worked and pros ... read more