Santa Visits the Moes

Clifton Johnson's The Oak-Tree Fairy Book is described in Google Books as " culturally important" with both familiar American tales forming roughly one-third of the book and the other two-thirds unusual stories that my Dover edition says are "drawn from a wide variety of sources. All 54 stories are told in terms that retains the charm and the interest fairy tales should have, but that avoid savagery and excessive pathos." 

I'm not sure that 1968 description of this 1905 book would be true today, but this past  week I had a last minute Christmas program booked and needed several stories FAST!

Over on  the sidebar you will find Public Domain Story Resources. 

One of the best resource is the late Jackie Baldwin's Story-Lovers site with suggestions from fellow storytellers on the email listserv, Storytell. There were several quick ideas including taking a well-known story, "The Twist-mouth Family" and having Santa Claus be the one who solves their problem of blowing out the candle. Of course when I tell it I like to have my audience blow like each character does.

This is how I changed it to "Santa Visits the Moes."

There once was a family named Moe who had their mouths twisted out of the usual shape. When Santa Claus came to visit, he found their candle burning and they were wide awake. 

"You need to got to sleep so I can deliver your presents", said Santa."Mr. Moe, blow that candle out so you can all go to sleep."

"Yes, I will," was his reply. 

"Well, I wish you would," said Santa. 

"Well, I will," he said. 

So he blew and blew, but his mouth was twisted and he blew upward, this way ---- and he couldn't blow out the light.

Then he said, "Mother will you blow out the light?" 

"Yes, I will," was her reply. 

"Well, I wish you would," said Santa. 

"Well, I will," she said. 

So Mrs. Moe blew and blew, but her mouth was twisted and she blew downward, this way ---- and she couldn't blow out the light.

Then Santa spoke to the daughter and said, "Young Miss Moe, will you blow out the light?"  

"Yes, I will," was her reply. 

"Well, I wish you would," said Santa. 

"Well, I will," she said. 

So she blew and blew, but her mouth was twisted to the right and she blew out of the right corner of her mouth, this way ---- and she couldn't blow out the light.

Then Santa spoke to the son and said, "Young Master Moe, will you blow out the light?"  

"Yes, I will," was his reply. 

"Well, I wish you would," said Santa. 

"Well, I will," he said. 

So  he blew and blew, but his mouth was twisted to the left and he blew out of the leftt corner of his mouth, this way ---- and he couldn't blow out the light.

"Then I guess I better blow out that light", Santa said . . and he did!

The light was out and all the Moe family went to bed and to sleep.

So Santa was able to deliver their presents and go on to other houses like yours! 

*****

As it turned out, a snow storm blew out the program after all my preparation. They plan to have me come in January instead for a program on Winter. We'll see if Winter lets me do it! You never know in Michigan. 

In the meantime, let this and other stories fit in your pocket to tell wherever you may be this holiday season! 

******************

This retelling is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, “Keeping the Public in Public Domain.” The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated. I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20^th century. My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them. I hope you enjoy discovering them.

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.

See the sidebar for other Public Domain story resources I recommend on the page “Public Domain Story Resources."

 

"The Shortest Scary Stories in the World"

Photo by Sabina Music Rich on Unsplash

As a storyteller I regularly tell stories in the Public Domain.  It's also why a large segment of this blog is in the category of Keeping the Public in Public Domain.  Whether you are a professional storyteller or not, it's my way of helping keep alive stories that should not fade away.  Certain the last two weeks did this as the story of The Pumpkin Giant deserves to be kept alive.  

Recently I had a program where the audience wanted spooky, but not too scary stories.  I told the group coordinator I used material that fit the requirement, BUT if she heard about any nightmares to remember when we sleep we use the events of the day to work out our problems.  I told her about a mother once telling me her child had a nightmare about crocodiles after a story in Preschool Storytime.  The story was about Bernard Waber's Lyle the Crocodile.  There are many books in the series, one of which is titled Lovable Lyle and gives a clue to just how the character goes out of his way to be anything but frightening.

With that "spooky, but not too scary" requirement, I offered a small cauldron of jokes and riddles and a large black cast iron pot with yellow paper strips for the titles of song parodies related to the topic and orange strips with the titles of appropriate stories.  Everybody in the group was on still another group of strips letting me choose the next person to decide what we heard.  They were allowed to choose a joke or riddle, a song, a story, or to pass.  This left the program to be shaped by the group as there was just enough time to call on all 17 attendees.

Among the stories was a strip called "The Shortest Scary Stories in the World."  There were so many stories available, it was never chosen.  If it had, I would have said there are Three! that claim to be "The Shortest Scary Stories in the World"  plus another of "All the Scary Stories in the World in Six Seconds."  Which would they choose: 1,2,3, or "All the Scary Stories in the World in Six Seconds?"  

Unfortunately for my recognition of authorship and possibly copyright, I am completely unable to find the source of "The Shortest Scary Stories in the World."  I suspected it was on Jackie Baldwin's site, Story-Lover's World.  Jackie tried to be the public archive for the email list, Storytell.  The list originally was sponsored by Texas Woman's University.  Eventually the university no longer was able to support it, so Jackie's "SOS:Searching Out Stories" section of her business site is as close as we can come to archiving those earlier suggestions.  Sadly her site ended in December of 2016 with https://web.archive.org/web/20161204114224/http://www.story-lovers.com/listsofstories.html .  I strongly recommend using it as a first stop bibliography when putting a storytelling program together on a theme.  I know the late Jackie Baldwin appreciated knowing it was still used even after she could no longer maintain it.  

The National Storytelling Network now hosts the Storytell list at https://storynet.org/groups/storytell/storytell-listserv/.  Membership in NSN is not a requirement to subscribe, but the archives are only available to subscribers to the list.

Trying all manner of searches never did turn up the source of "The Shortest Scary Stories in the World."  If someone can lead me to it, I'll gladly acknowledge their work and, if permitted, keep it posted here.  

 Next week I plan to take a second look at two versions of my favorite scary tale.

Steve Talkowski on Behance.net

"Unhinged ruler" stories

A wonderful online resource for storytelling and storytellers is hosted by the National Storytelling Network, the email list, Storytell.  I'll give more information about it after this list.

One of the great things on Storytell is the ability to ask a question and get replies from members ranging from beginner through professional.  One of our professionals, Richard Martin in Germany asked: 

Recent events have made me look for folk tales of rulers who become sufficiently divorced from the reality perceived by others that they end up doing terrible things to their land - perhaps even the lands of others. So far I have only thought of the Ovid tale of King Erysichthon whose insatiable greed led him to prostitute his daughter and eventually to consume himself.

O Founts of Wisdom, which tales can you suggest?

Rachel Hedman replied:

---

I would actually approach it to folktales where people unified together for good. Where a group may be small but their heart and goodness overcome. Bring about the unifying spirit that sometimes must fight to keep the peace for all.

 

Richard clarified:

I appreciate that, but it is the tragic story of the person heading for doom which I find interesting. Sometimes we need to look at such things.

From there the topic began producing these replies:

*(Suzanne Whitby) 

I tend to resonate with Richard, here. Using folktales to explore possible outcomes - good or bad - can provoke conversation and thought, in my world anyway :) Admittedly, I do love a trickster and a good ending, though, so Richard, some thoughts below which might only partially help. Also, a few ideas that are based in history, but have a somewhat mythical quality about them - again, take what you find useful and ignore the rest.

The one that popped into my head was the story of the "battle in sign language"  - the Spanish inquisitor, wanting to evict the Jews, the "debate" etc. I know you know this story. From the perspective of today, perhaps there is the feeling of the inquisitor heading for doom.

The other is about the witch prickers - here is one historical example of a woman in the role (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-20315106), but a bit of Googling might be of interest.

I wonder if Loki and his involvement in the death of Baldur might be interesting - as a reader or listener, we know it's going to go badly on every level, and it does.

Thinking of the Greeks, I think you might also want to look to Minos in Crete - paying to Poseidon for a sign of the god's favour, then refusing to sacrifice it, resulting in the gods (unfairly) visiting a punishment on him in the form of Pasiphae falling in love with a bull, and so on. Again, as soon as you know that Minos tries to trick Poseidon, well... Not a particularly hopeful story, unless you follow it through to Minos' death at the hands of the daughters of King Cocalus in Sicily, but perhaps that's just me being a bit too interested in retribution!!

Going back a bit earlier, I think the whole story of Prometheus stealing fire, the gods creating the "girl with all the gifts" etc. also has seeds of doom.

Gengis Khan popped into my head, too, as I thought there were some doom-filled stories about him that were unproven, but I haven't been able to find anything.

The Ethiopian tale of the fire on the mountain - felt a bit ominous, although all works out in the end.

Maybe the tale of King Midas - happy ending in the end, but there is that idea of "doom" at the outset.

*(Cassandra Wye)

Hi Richard,

I am with you on the doom ending - because it is less told in story-world 

And I always love telling the untold stories 

There is of course - A drop of Honey - from MRM book of earth tales 

and all things are linked - African tale collected by H Courtalder ? I think 

But for me the tale that is never told = ending of King Solomon 

There are loads of tales about his wisdom and his wealth 

But apparently he squandered it all, his palaces and temples fell down and he died a pauper 

I am sure there are many on the list that know more about this than I do 

My favourite of course is what happened to Hao Ai - The greatest archer of them alli (other spellings are available) 

who saved the world from 10 suns 

Became a hero 

Was rewarded for his heroism with immortality 

And promptly started to abuse his power 

This is my favourite one to tell 

There are loads of written versions of this tale online

I learned mine from UK Chinese community about 30 years ago 

Hope this helps

* (Marilyn McPhie)                                                                                                                             Here's a story that might fit the theme: 

Long ago, lived a king named Reggis. In his kingdom, there was a carpenter, who made beautiful wooden chests. The king declared him as the royal carpenter. King Reggis served his country well. No one went hungry. The people under his rule were happy. One day, he overheard the cook saying, Ours is the best king we ever had! and the king silently agreed. The next day the king overheard the gardener talking to his assistant, King Reggis is amazing, he could do anything! and the king silently agreed. These thoughts filled the king's mind. He became displeased with anything ordinary. Each day he had to find another way to show that he was the best and he could do anything. He paced restlessly in the moonlight. The moon was so bright and silvery, the king wondered what it would be like to touch it. So he called his carpenter and said I wish to touch the moon. So, what is the fastest way to build a tall tower? The carpenter answered, If you stack up all the chests in the kingdom, that would make a tall tower. The king agreed and asked him to begin work. The carpenter knew this was not possible, but he had to do as the king ordered. He went to work. Every chest in the kingdom was brought to the garden and stacked up. The king's purple and gold one was first. Then all the others went on top. When all the chests were stacked, it was not high enough to reach the moon, so the king ordered the carpenter to make more chests. The carpenter used every scrap of wood left in the kingdom, and all the new chests were added. The king announced he would climb the tower that night and touch the moon. Everyone watched in wonder. When the king stretched up his hand as he stood on the last chest on top of the tower, the moon was still out of reach. So the king demanded that one more chest be sent up. But there are no more chests , the carpenter shouted up to the king. Then take one from the bottom and send it up! the king commanded. The carpenter knew the king's pride had finally made him blind to even the most obvious facts. There was nothing to be done but do as the king commanded. So the carpenter pulled out the purple and gold chest and then ran out of the garden. The tower toppled over with a huge crash, filling the garden with chests. When every chest had fallen, the carpenter was afraid to look for the king. But the king was thankfully not badly injured. The king returned to his royal duties with a very different attitude. One day he overheard the cook say to the gardener, Our good king is foolish, but he is no longer full of pride and the king silently and strongly agreed. Source: Adapted from a Caribbean folktale

This was in my files.  Sadly, I apparently didn't record the source.  If anyone else has it, please let me know.

There's also the Chinese legend of Wan Hu who decided in the 16th century to launch himself into space.  Supposedly, he has a chair built and attached forty-seven rockets to it.  When the fuses were lit, there was a huge explosion.  When the smoke cleared, there was no evidence of Wan Hu or the chair.

* (Allison Galbraith)

Hi Richard,

The one where a king only has a bath once in a blue moon, and when he does his feet get dirty on the way out of the river.

So he makes ridiculous demands to have the land washed (flooded) and brushed (too dusty) and finally covered in an enormous quilt of patchwork leather (nothing can grow)

A wise soul puts him right by suggesting they cut the leather carpet neatly around the king’s feet, then tie it onto his feet with straps.

Hence the rest of the land can be freed of carpet, and the king’s feet are kept clean in the first pair of shoes ever made 😊

I can’t remember where I first saw/heard this tale or where it originates – hopefully someone else can help with that!

* (Elinor Benjamin) 

There is always the Wicked Prince

https://andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheWickedPrince_e.html

* (Rona Leventhal)

Probably not exactly what you want, but The Fisherman and His Wife has some of the similar motifs and stories mentioned in this thread.  Been meaning to work on that one myself for quite a while!

Here's To The Stories!

 

* (Mary Garrett)

I recall one in which the emperor commanded that the worms eating the mulberry trees be exterminated not realizing they were silkworms.

There’s another in which complaints of noisy frogs lead to filling all the little puddles and ponds, and then there were no frogs to eat insects.

Do I have details, nope . . . it’s been too long since I heard or read them, but I’ll bet someone knows.

Oh, and “Drop of Honey” which dealt with inaction instead of foolish action.  Life is complicated.  

* (Nicola-Jane le Breton)

And there is 'The King of the Moles' from Somerset:

https://www.scribd.com/book/402439173/Somerset-Folk-Tales-for-Children

About a Lord of the Manor who decides he wants everything to be neat & tidy, regardless of the environmental impact.

Nature responds with devastating consequences for him.

I have a PDF of this one, from a book of Somerset Tales I borrowed from the library.

* (Tim Jennings)

Leanne and I recorded a version of a tale from India, we called it “The King And The Thrush.” I believe it could serve you well. It’s on the album of the same name, with the subtitle “Tales of Goodness and Greed.”  One of our best, and you are welcome to as much as you want of the original elements that we added, or you could go back to the source, which I think is called “The talking Thrush.” On the same album, the well-known Danish tale “The Wonderful Pot,” always a winner. I think we fixed it in a couple of places, but the original, again, very good, added to American library story times about the same time as 3 little pigs. “Jackal’s Pond” would also work, he’s not a king, but he declares himself a god, and makes the other animals bow down and worship him before he lets them drink. Nobody else tells it, Leanne discovered it, I think we made it much better. 

Always like a hat-tip when somebody makes use of our work, but that’s just my vanity at this point, the tales want to spread, and I’ve certainly copped licks from other folks w/o acknowledgement in my time.

* (Olive Shaughnessy)

Rum Pum Pum: A Folktale from India.

  I just told it yesterday. It delights the children and all the adults in the room knew I was honoring Ukraine.

 

* (Kiran Shah)

Rum Pum Pum sounds very much like The Rooster's Diamond Button by Margaret Read MacDonald.

LSK: That's "The Little Rooster and the Turkish Sultan" in Margaret Read MacDonald's Twenty Tellable Tales.

 

* (Kiran again responding to the earlier suggestion by Cassandra)

Hi Cassandra,

Yes, A drop of Honey is one of my favourites.

Hou Yi - (different spelling) is one I hadn't thought of. 

I do not know about King Solomon so would love to hear more.

 

* (Cassandra)

Hi Kiran

King Solomon is a really interesting “character”

He is one of the few “wise “ men that is revered in Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths 

You find his stories around the world - as they have travelled extensively as each faith spread around the globe 

He was said to be so wise - that he knew all the languages of all animals 

And incredibly rich 

And his judgements have gone down in history 

My favourite king Solomon tale - I developed for my vision project 

And included on We Share the Same Moon science as storytelling resource - https://www.wesharethesamemoon.org/?p=562

But I first fell in love with his stories via Bertolt Brecht - "The Caucasian Chalk Circle”

My all time favourite play. One day I will play Azdak. 

And of course if memory serves King Solomon’s wall is still a holy site in Jerusalem 

BUT - when I did some research on to what might be the “real” story - not so noble

According to Wikipedia, he squandered his immense wealth and died a pauper 

If I were Richard - and aren’t we all glad I am not ;) 

I would love to weave together the fact and the fiction 

And it is such a beautiful and terrible tale 

* (LSK: my own reply about Solomon)

Cassandra, I agree with your calling Solomon "a really interesting 'character'...one of the few “wise “ men that is revered in Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths."

I applaud your "research on to what might be the 'real' story - not so noble

According to Wikipedia, he squandered his immense wealth and died a pauper."

and also second your wish, "I would love to weave together the fact and the fiction

And it is such a beautiful and terrible tale."

This reminds me of a teacher saying something like "aren't we glad the Bible isn't still being written?"  (Actually in God's view it is, but I continue...) The only "character" not shown making a mistake is Joseph, unless you count his pride in showing he was the favorite among his brothers.

I remember once proposing Solomon in that perfect category only to be told how ruthlessly he taxed his people to support his flagrantly extravagant lifestyle.  It would indeed be worthwhile to have a tale weaving together his wise and very unwise sides.

LoiS(ure his choice in foreign female companions was a step toward this) 

 

* (Cassandra)

YES !

This are the stories l love to tell!

Like Hoa Ai (other spellings are available) - who is both a hero and a
monster

I love telling them with teens and getting them to discuss the concept of
“hero” and ‘wise”

Why can’t we all be wise and unwise?
Such a better concept to live with rather than up to
Cassandra 

 

Those are the four days of discussion and you will notice it also gives suggestions on usage such as the discussion of "hero" and "wise and unwise."

 

AFTER I created this compilation I received this additional story suggestion of a very moving story I remember well.  If you read it, I'm sure it will stay with you.

(Barry Stewart Mann)

I saw some of the Storytell chat about unhinged rulers but was too busy to zero in.  Now it's Saturday and I saw your post - hope I'm not too late to offer this one, "Kaddo's Wall," a story from West Africa (as best I can tell, from Togo or Burkina Faso) about a rich man (not technically a leader, but in practice very much so) who will not share his corn, but instead hires the peasants to use it to build a wall around him ("Build that wall!").  It's from the collection The Cow-Tail Switch and Other West African Stories, by Harold Courlander and George Herzog. 

If you wish to join this international email discussion list, you don't have to be a member of  National Storytelling Network -- although it's certainly worth supporting and their archiving it goes back to April of 2016.  Prior to that Texas Woman's University hosted it.  We lost those archives but some entries were saved by Jackie Baldwin on her Story-Lovers.com site which can be found via the Wayback Machine.  (To learn how to access that, see the standard webliography at the end of "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" segments on this blog.)  On the N.S.N. site go to https://storynet.org/groups/storytell/storytell-listserv/ and follow the instructions.

Anonymous? - The Red Boat

How often do we stop and express our gratitude?  However often, it's surely never enough.  At the start of this year I was grateful to look at a calendar filling up my schedule with programs.  I also was cast in a local community theater production of Godspell, while finishing up another group's production of Grease.  About that time Chinese New Year arrived and I mentioned the reason for the practice of giving pretend money then was because the belief was that whatever you were doing at the start of the Lunar New Year, you would keep doing it all year.  

There's a comparable European folk tradition.  I've posted one well done version of it in Howard Pyle's "How the good gifts were used by two" in his book, The Wonder Clock or four and twenty marvelous Tales, being one for each hour of the day.  That link takes you to the entire book at Archive.org and it is worthwhile reading, whether over 24 hours or days.  Even my own posting of the story skips to the actual part about giving and in turn being given the gift of doing all day however you start it. 

Little did we know the folk belief literally would come true.  The Lunar New Year brought us the Coronavirus and we've been coping with it ever since!

So what does that have to do with today's story?  Go looking at 8 Proverbs About Gratitude and you will see yet another story you may recognize: It Could Always Be Worse.  The proverb declares "Count your blessings, things could always be worse."  Experienced story lovers should recognize the Eastern European, usually Russian or Jewish, tale which even has a 1972 picture book version by Eleanor Chroman.

Just this past week I did a program streamed locally in Lakeview, Michigan about the Hello Girls.  Because the library had a grant, they were eager to bring it even if it only drew a few audience members spaced safely apart.  It originally was scheduled earlier this year except an Executive Order closed Michigan libraries.  Last month I did my Prohibition program for a local library, who streamed it for a few weeks to open their virtual programming.  In return I now have a Prohibition program other venues may contract with me to use if unable to offer it outdoors or safely spaced in a large area.  Next month I'll do my One-Room Schoolteacher program for a Michigan museum.  It, too, will be live streamed.  I'm grateful to be working.  I'm also grateful freelance workers were in the recent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance coverage under the federal CARES Act because my subbing in libraries and storytelling has indeed been severely cut back or eliminated in these uncertain times.  I expect, if I'm storytelling when the weather turns cold, it will be online or not at all.  As for subbing in libraries or residencies in schools -- "Forgeddaboutit!" 

I know eventually it will be possible for festival and theaters to reopen, but they're hurting.  So are your local businesses.  As for schools, libraries, and museums, it sometimes seems like the line "The hurrier I go, the behinder I get" as plans and openings change when a case crops up among staff or students.

We all will muddle through this one way or another eventually.  I had a friend ask if anybody knew somebody who died from Covid.  I'm not certain.  One dear friend, Jackie Baldwin, (who is listed below for her wonderful Story-Lovers website found now only through the Wayback Machine) was in senior assisted living in Belleview, Washington, a suburb of Seattle where so many elderly victims started.  She and another storytelling friend are simply said to have died.  In her case, her health was already in poor condition.  As for the other colleague and online friend, I don't know about any existing health concerns for Thomas Doty, an active storyteller in nearby Oregon.  His website is more specialized with many stories about the trickster, Coyote, and other Native American resources.

The fact is we do indeed need to take this seriously.  I posted on Facebook the article by Franklin Veaux on Quora.com about why Coronavirus has shut down the U.S. even if actual mortality is quite small.  You are welcome to read the responses there and also an analysis at Bored Panda by Jonas Grinevicius and Denis Tymulis.  The point they made was "However, even if the fatality percentage is low, as Veaux points out, the actual number of people that the virus kills, damages, and affects is still huge."

I will indeed be grateful when a vaccine is available and, yes, I will get it.  I am grateful neither I nor anybody in my extended family has been physically affected other than having the "Shelter in Place" Executive Orders shut down businesses, churches, schools, libraries, museums, theaters and other groups where I am a member and otherwise change life and work.  Yet it brings concern for the present and foreseeable future.  I hope the same is true for you and all you love and you, too, take the time to be grateful for your present safety even if it's not free of the current covid chaos.

That brings us to today's story which was listed as being by that prolific author, Anonymous.  In literature and music we are sometimes cynically informed that "Anonymous was a woman."  I believe in honoring the copyright of creators, but was only partly successful attempting to trace the authorship, and any permission that might be necessary.  I found a site called KindSpring.org and the story is listed there by BlissForgive, who it seems wrote it August 10, 2017 for that site only.  I hope Creative Commons applies here, but, if either the site or the author request it, I will remove the story.  In the meantime I think it is a perfect story for this uncertain time and a reminder of the need for gratitude.

(Carol McCormick posted this on the Facebook group, Storytellers.)
The Red Boat

A man was asked to paint a boat. He brought his paint and brushes and began to paint the boat a bright red, as the owner asked him.

While painting, he noticed a small hole in the hull, and quietly repaired it.

When he finished painting, he received his money and left.

The next day, the owner of the boat came to the painter and presented him with a nice check, much higher than the payment for painting.

The painter was surprised and said “You've already paid me for painting the boat Sir!”

“But this is not for the paint job. It's for repairing the hole in the boat.”

“Ah! But it was such a small service... certainly it's not worth paying me such a high amount for something so insignificant.”

“My dear friend, you do not understand. Let me tell you what happened:

“When I asked you to paint the boat, I forgot to mention the hole.

“When the boat dried, my kids took the boat and went on a fishing trip.

“They did not know that there was a hole. I was not at home at that time.

“When I returned and noticed they had taken the boat, I was desperate because I remembered that the boat had a hole.

“Imagine my relief and joy when I saw them returning from fishing.

“Then, I examined the boat and found that you had repaired the hole!

“You see, now, what you did? You saved the life of my children! I do not have enough money to pay your 'small' good deed.”

So no matter who, when or how, continue to help, sustain, wipe tears, listen attentively, and carefully repair all the 'leaks' you find. You never know when one is in need of us, or when God holds a pleasant surprise for us to be helpful and important to someone.

Along the way, you may have repaired numerous 'boat holes' for several people without realizing how many lives you've saved.

~Author Unknown

It all sounds rather reminiscent of George Bailey in the old classic movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."  If you are looking to make a difference, the KindSpring site has a page loaded with Ideas for acts of kindness. Currently there are 434 ideas for such areas as Friends and Family, Environment, Elderly, Animals, At Home, At Work, At School and University, Just for Teens, Resources for Teachers, Resources for Groups, for Parents and Grandparents, and others, but the largest category is Public Places.  Think about how Public Places of late have become a site for anything BUT kindness.  KindSpring's About Us statement says:

KindSpring is a place to practice small acts of kindness. For over a decade the KindSpring user community has focused on inner transformation, while collectively changing the world with generosity, gratitude, and trust. The site is 100% volunteer-run and totally non-commercial. It is a shared labor of love.

There's always a need to change the world with generosity, gratitude, and trust.  Maybe you, too, can repair some "boat holes."

National Mad Hatter Day + Story-Lovers.com Looks at Hats

October 6, today according to my publishing schedule of early Saturday mornings, is National Manufacturing Day, but it's also National Mad Hatter Day according to a site called the National Day Calendar.  I will be substituting at a nearby library, not wearing a hat, but if I had to choose between the two "holidays" I would definitely choose National Mad Hatter Day for a program.  Manufacturing is indeed important, but the idea of celebrating the Mad Hatter from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland offers more ideas for storytelling.  First of all I would go to that link and mention something their site reminds us about the manufacturing of hats:

The phrase “mad as a hatter” comes from the late 18th and early 19th centuries when haberdasheries used mercury nitrate.  The exposure to this metal over time caused the tradesmen to develop symptoms making people believe they were mad.

Of course the start of National Mad Hatter Day and why it happens to be October 6 is also explained there:

A group of computer technicians in Boulder, Colorado first celebrated Mad Hatter Day in 1986 as a day of silliness.  October 6 was chosen due to the label tucked in the Mad Hatter’s hat band that read “In this style 10/6”.

Here's that John Tenniel character from the book:

So let us join with computer lovers of silliness and find some hat stories.  "How?" you may ask.  If you read the "fine print" at the end of my many posts here in the Keeping the Public in Public Domain segments you should be aware of my frequent direction to a site that no longer is being offered except through Archive.org's Wayback Machine letting people find webpages of the past.  Jackie Baldwin posted at her Story-Lovers website the suggestions generated by storytellers on the email list, Storytell.  That list is now sponsored by the National Storytelling Network, but many discussions were lost when the list's original sponsor, Texas Woman's University, dropped their coverage of it.  Jackie listened to listmembers in creating her site, keeping the names of storytellers anonymous since the list was private, keeping all contributions safe from employers or otherwise viewed.  When Jackie's health eventually declined, her site was left behind, but the Wayback Machine still lets us use it if we know how.


It's not easy and I've had storytellers ask how to do it.  This is how to do it.  http://web.archive.org/web/20160615000000*/www.story-lovers.com gives an overview, but some of the later dates don't produce the site.  Click on 2016 for a complete showing of circled dates when the site was "crawled by the Wayback Machine" below.  I recommend October 22, 2016.  Once there, ignore the Google search box and other items, scroll down to the elephant on a unicycle illustration, keep on going to the section right below it to "SOS: Searching Out Stories".  Click on that and scroll it for the twelve years of  

"references to hundreds of categories and thousands of stories, suggested by professional storytellers, librarians, healers, environmentalists and teachers from all around the world. You'll find full stories, abridged stories, book references, and descriptions of actual experiences and helpful hints in telling these tales."

Think of the site as if you were strolling through a library or a store.  Today's "Hat Stories" are in a list of  Stories, specific by subject or type.  Here are the stories suggested.  (You'll notice HTML converts quotation marks into “, but the text is still easily followed.)

HAT STORIES
(excerpts from posts)
(If you want to retell any of the stories listed below, be sure to obtain permission from the copyright holder if the material is not in the public domain)
After the assembly, students will be making their own imaginative hats. Can anyone recommend hat stories or songs?

1) The first one that comes to mind is Caps Amazon.com: Books: Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business - for sale, but copyright would be an issue.

How about the story of The Thrifty Tailor? One of the things he makes is a hat.
THE THRIFTY TAILOR Once there was a tailor and a very fine tailor he was. He was also very thrifty. He wasted nothing! A rich landowner came to him with a roll of the finest cloth. “Make me suit of this materialâ€*, he said, “and I will pay you well! . The tailor sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made the suit. And a very fine suit it was! He took it to the rich landowner, who was very pleased. When the tailor returned to his workshop, he looked at the material that was left and thought to himself, “Just a minute – there’s enough material to make something else!â€* So being a thrifty tailor, he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very smart top coat. And a very smart top coat it was! He put it on and he wore it every day, and he wore it every day and he wore it every day until it was all worn out! And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, “Just a minute – there’s enough material to make something else! So being a thrifty tailor, he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very smart jacket. And a very smart jacket it was! He put it on and he wore it every day and he wore it every day and he wore it every day, until it was all worn out! And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, “Just a minute – there’s enough material to make something else!. So being a thrifty tailor, he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very smart waistcoat. And a very smart waistcoat it was! He put it on and he wore it every day and he wore it every day and he wore it every day, until it was all worn out! And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, “Just a minute! There's enough material to make something else! So being a thrifty tailor, he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very smart cap. And a very smart cap it was! He put it on and he wore it every day and he wore it every day and he wore it every day, until it was all worn out! And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself. Just a minute. If there's enough material to make something else! So being a thrifty tailor, he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very smart tie. And a very smart tie it was! He put it on and he wore it every day and he wore it every day and he wore it every day, until it was all worn out! And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, Just aminute, there's enough material to make something else! So being a thrifty tailor, he sat up all night and he cut and he sewed and he snipped and he stitched. And in the morning he had made a very smart button. And a very smart button it was! He sewed it to his shirt and he wore it every day and he wore it every day and he wore it every day until it was all worn out! And he was just about to throw it away, when he thought to himself, Just a minute! There's enough material to make a story!" And he told the story to me and I've just told it to you!

There is also a story about Anansi the trickster, Anansi's Hat Shaking Dance Courlander, Harold, & Prempeh, A.K. The Hat-shaking Dance and Other Tales from the Gold Coast. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1957. but it can also be found in Easy to Tell Tales by Annette Harrison I believe.

Preschool Education Music & Songs: Hats
http://www.preschooleducation.com/shat.shtml
2) What about the story of the two farmers whose fields were across the road from each other. One day, as they worked in their fields, a man passed by wearing a hat. After he passed, one farmer said to the other, "what an unusual red hat he was wearing." The other responded, "Are you crazy? Are you blind? He was wearing a blue hat!" They quarreled all day until they refused to speak to each other ever again - and then as evening approached, the man in the hat returned. Each farmer felt his jaw drop as the one who had seen a red hat saw blue, and the one who had seen a blue hat saw red, and they both realized how foolish their quarrel had been, since the hat was clearly red on one side, blue on the other. This West African story was included in one of Ruth Stotter's Storytelling Calendars, and she attributes it to a Herskovits' collection, Dahomean Narrative. I love "point of view" stories.
Response: I've heard this as an Anansi story from Africa, and he had a whole outfit on - and he did it deliberately to cause trouble of course!
Response: I read this as Red Coat/Blue Coat but a hat will do just as well.

3) I love to use Hats for Sale with the early elementary classes. I get the teachers or principal to be "The monkeys" in the story, and the kids absolutely love it.
Response: Caps for Sale is a wonderful story, or Heather Forrest tells of a hat that is red on one side and black on another. Don't worry about permissions as this is an Indian folktale too. The hats or caps are topis and the seller is the topiwallah.

There is also the song: "'My hat it has three corners' I can't remmerber the original version very well, but I have an adapted version from Bingo Lingo - Supporting Language Development with Songs and Rhymes by Helen MacGregor ( A & C Black London) That version goes like this:
My hat it is too spotty
Too spotty is my hat
Because it is too spotty I will not wear my hat
Other verses are : too stripy and too fluffy. The idea is to get the children to suggest other adjectives to make up additional verses.
Response:
My Hat, It Has Three Corners
My hat has three corners (touch head)
My hat, it has three corners (touch each elbow on corners)
Three corners has my hat (touch each elbow on corners)
And if it hadn’t had three corners
It wouldn't be my hat.
Response:
My hat it has three corners
Three corners has my hat
And had it not three corners
Then it would not be my hat!
You can use this rhyme to demonstrate the kind of hat called a tricorne. The name literally means "three horns", being constructed from Latin bits (cornua are horns). Dick Turpin (and every other highwayman worth his salt) would likely be seen wearing one. Me too, sometimes. A unicorn, however, would have trouble fitting a tricorne onto his head. I don't know where the rhyme comes from. I learned it years ago, before I ever owned a tricorne.

4) Haven't posted Rainhat in ages, but it's a real favorite of mine.There is a pirate version of this paper folding and tearing story should be found in Nancy Shimmel's Just Enough to Make A Story, as well in one of Anne Pellowski's, and think Margaret Read McDonald has a version too. I have the Rainhat version that I used based on Batsy's terrific directions - I changed it to a story of a bit of safety story - appropriate for school telling. Almost always end up with kids over 6 or 7 years making their own hats, but I premake for younger audiences. Using newspapers it's a great recycling story too. I've had children decorate them too, so it should fit in well for you,

5) Safety Version of Rainhat with Batsy's excellent directions inserted:
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved the rain. (rain sounds)
(Fold a single sheet of newspaper in half.)
She woke up and folded down the sheet on her bed - she was a very neat girl.
(From folded top turn one part down like a sheet fold.)
Then she remembered her teddy bear and folded the sheet down its side of the sheet.
(Make another fold so the two meet in the middle and you have the newspaper shaped like a HOUSE with a pointed roof. Remember that the bottom part of the house should be open and NOT be folded yet.)
She went downstairs in her house to eat breakfast.
(Point out the shape of the house.)
After breakfast she and her mother went out on the porch to look at the rain.
(At this point fold up a single sheet twice from the bottom to make a sort of porch roof.)
Then she asked her mother if she could go and see Grandpa who has a surprise for her. Her mother says that she must wear her rain -
(indicate with hands- a coat - this is important for my NEW ending,)
her rain - (indicate with hands -boots,)
and then a rain - (now turn the paper over and fold up the other side and put on your head, so the listeners will respond "HAT!"
The girl follows the stream down to her grandfather's house until she hears:
MAKE thunder noises. (Elicit audience response that it is a thunder and lightning storm.)
She runs under . . . (pause and fold. This is where you move on to next step and pull out hat sides to make a square shape with folds all around the square.) .... A TREE! (Look shocked that you don't have a tree, but rather a square shape.)
(Then REMEMBER,) Of course, I told you she was a smart girl, didn't I? She knew better than to run under a tree during a thunder and lightning storm.
(THIS IS THE NEW SAFETY PART!)
She ran to stand under her grandpa's garage roof. (Indicate that this is grandpa's garage. You can then add or elicit other safe places to be in lightning storm - porch, car, inside, but NEVER under a tree!) Then she hears a (make a siren noise and elicit response from audience that it's a . .. ) fire engine.
(Time to fold up the bottom edge on one side to make a triangle on the front.)
She waved to her Uncle Jack as he rode by on the fire truck wearing his fireman's hat. (It's still big enough that you can pretend it might fit your head.)
When the rain stopped, she hurried on to her grandpa's house by the lake. Her grandpa loved water. He loved water so much that he used to be in the Navy. Folks called him, the Admiral. He loved to wear his admiral hat. (Time to fold the other bottom edge to a triangular shaped paper. It's small, but I perch it on my head.)
Grandpa said, "I have a surprise for you in the BOAT house." (Time to pull out the sides so the bottom points of the triangle come together and make the square looking boat house - mention how much smaller it is than the garage. :->)
Does anyone one want to guess what the surprise might be?
(Amazingly enough, not too many children will come up with a boat right away. I loved the other answers so much that sometimes I deliberately lead them off track. BUT, at last, really emphasize the boat part.)
You're right it's a BOAT! (Time to turn the boathouse so that the crease is running up and down. Then pull out the two points of the square which open out to make a boat.)
The girl got in her boat and started back up the stream to her own house, BUT suddenly the sail fell off. (Time to tear off some of the top triangular part of sail. I"VE Changed The Order Here From The Original Directions.)
BUT that's OK, I told you she was a smart girl, didn't I? She had a paddle in the boat so she started to paddle home. Now she was smart, but she wasn't very good at paddling and ran into the bank of the stream. The front of the boat fell off!
(Time to tear off some of the front.)
She paddled backwards, and the back of the boat fell off.
(Time to tear off some of the back.)
Then the STRANGEST thing happened as the boat began to sink.
(Time to start unfolding the paper to reveal . . . )
She wasn't sinking, no, she was floating.
(Time to complete the opening to reveal her RAINCOAT, not a shirt - this is why you need to establish earlier that she had put on a raincoat.)
BUT WAIT A MINUTE - raincoats don't make you float.
(Look very puzzled as you make her float along. Then let a look of realization come over your face. And start tearing again. Tear off the sleeves of the raincoat.)
Well, I told you she was a smart girl, didn't I? And her grandpa was a smart man too. He'd made sure that she'd put on a . . .
(see if kids recognize what she's wearing or ask what would help you float . .)
That's right, she had a LIFE JACKET on under her coat. So she floated all the way home!
The end - except that I've added Batsy great folding directions at the bottom as well as Owen's additional suggestions on the folding.
EXTRA TIPS AND BATSY'S DIRECTIONS
For me the simplest part of the folding was to remember to go to the two squares after the hats. That helped.

6) One of my favorites is A Three Hat Day, Written by Laura Geringer, Illustrated by Arnold Lobel (ISBN 0-06-443157-6 (pbk.) New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1985.)
This story is about R.R. Pottle the Third and his love of hats. He collected all sorts of hats. His father had collected canes, and his mother had collected umbrellas. R.R. Pottle loved hats so much that he would wear several at one time. When walking one day with three hats on his head, R.R. Pottle got caught in the rain and went into a hat store where he met the future Mrs. Pottle. Their child, R.R. Pottle the Fourth, loved neither hats nor canes nor umbrellas. She loved shoes.

7) Bartholomew Cubbins and the 500 hats is a *great* story. Dr. Seuss, before he went e-z reader.

8)



(This web page updated 9/13/03)

 *************************
That's surely enough for you to enjoy a silly day of hats and storytelling.  There may be a resurrection of Jackie's site.  Various colleagues have proposed ways to host it, but I know Jackie is delighted for any way to have it remain helpful to lovers of stories and storytelling.  Whether someone hosts it again or not, you now should know how to access and use it.  I hope you do.  If you have any problem with it, please feel free to ask me and I'll be happy to help you with it. 

The Hodja Still Lives! Part 2

By Yamen Statue of Nasreddin in Schaerbeek

Today it's time to enjoy more stories of the Hodja,  even three videos as told by friend and colleague, Richard Martin.

• Nasruddin looking for a Wife
  Many men wish to find the perfect wife, but Nasruddin found there was always a problem
  • Nasruddin's Daughter
    A tale which shows the dangers of having only one story to tell
    • Nasruddin's Cat
      Another wonderful Hodja story
      and while you're on his site, here's a story http://tellatale.eu/tales_nasruddin_donkey.html that he doesn't have in video.  (This is one of many stories about the Hodja and donkeys.)

Last week I mentioned the international storytelling email list, Storytell.  The conversations have been going on there for a long time.  It started back in the last century and was hosted at that time by Texas Woman's University.  We lost that archive when it was dropped rather abruptly by TWU, although some list members stored some of those conversations.  This includes a HUGE storage by Jackie Baldwin on her website.  The compilation that is just about the Hodja fills 23 pages, so I will publish that next year, on the 60th! Annual International Nasreddin Hodja Festival held July 5-10 of each year in Akşehir, Turkey.

Jackie respected the decision by Storytell members to keep anonymity, so it doesn't state who contributed what.  Jackie continued the site until her compilations stopped when her health made her leave her business, Story-Lovers.  Jackie's information can be found still using the Wayback Machine of Archive.org.  It's not easy, but as I explain in my "fine print" at the end of my Keeping the Public in Public Domain segments, you can go to https://archive.org ,  then paste in this link, https://web.archive.org/web/20161022143837/http://www.story-lovers.com/ , which is the snapshot made on October 22, 2016.  Once there, scroll down and click on SOS: Searching Out Stories.  Once there you can scroll down through the many story topics, including the Hodja if you just can't wait,  and click on the story topic that interests you. 

In the meantime the Hodja continues to interest storytellers on Storytell and today I want to take the discussions that came after Story-Lovers ended.  I checked for permission to publish here with those who posted (if alive...you'll see what I mean further down).  Of course, each storyteller's version is just a quick retelling of the story and not the full story as they would tell it.  I know mine, which I gave in part 1 of this series, certainly were condensed.  As storytellers we have all fallen under the spell of the Hodja and, like the story given below about him smuggling donkeys or the one where he, too, is taken in by a rumor he started, we couldn't trace them back to their source if we tried.  We merely spread the fun.

For those of us who love the Hodja and want to access as many stories as possible, next week I will publish a bibliography of Hodja books as well as a way to access even more stories, links about the Hodja, and educational material from yet another site now only found via that Wayback Machine.  Erol Beyman's site was listed on the website of yet another friend and colleague, Tim Sheppard's Story Links (part of an even larger site of his, take a look from his Home page), which also appears in the "fine print" at the end of my Keeping the Public in Public Domain segments.  Tim's site is so large, there's no way to keep it as updated as he might like.  He assures me, however, that Erol would be delighted to keep alive the Hodja information so it continues to be used.

In the meantime, here are the storytellers who contributed their love of the Hodja.  Wherever they have a current website for their storytelling, it's hotlinked after their name.  To clarify my own comments from their own contributions to the list, I use this type font and a different one for what was published on the list.  I've done what I can to format their emails to fit this blog's template.

WENDY GOURLEY - http://www.wendygourley.com/storytelling/ 

Re: [storytell] Stories about working together / building community

There's an old Hodja story about a Queen whose prime minister dies. 

Her power relies on two chiefs who each command a great army. Each 

chief has a son they would like to be called as the next prime 

minister. One is a brilliant scholar and the other a mighty soldier.

If she chooses one over the other, she could lose the loyalty of 

one of the chiefs.  

She calls on Hodja to solve the problem. He tells her to let the 

scholar run the parliament and laws and the soldier run the 

military. She tells them they have been pitted against each other

all their lives and would never work together. He then sends them 

both up a dangerous mountain to see who can return first, but he 

gives one son all the food, the other the fuel. He gives one the 

tent and the other the blankets.  They have to work together to 

survive.
    
They get back, but are still arguing. The Queen is not pleased and 

threatens to cut off Hodja's head (as she does to all who displease

her.) Hodja then solves the problem by proclaiming the soldier as 

the prime minister over the laws and the scholar as prime minister 

over the military. They argue that they do not know how to run those

things and Hodja tells them they must learn to work together or risk 

losing their heads. They submit.
  
The queen is happy and everyone keeps their heads - including the 

Hodja! 

***

BOB KANEGIS - https://www.ghostranch.org/instructors/bob-kanegis/

Subject: Re: [storytell] Storytelling to teach factual information 

Re: the essence of Story   
Combining two threads- fact based storytelling and a recent call 

for Nasruddin stories.

A neighbor of Nasruddin knocks on his door and asks to borrow the 

Naz's donkey. Naz really doesn't want to lend it out so he replies 

that, unfortunately, another neighbor came by earlier to borrow the 

donkey. At that very moment, the donkey brays loudly from the stable. 

"Nasruddin, I thought you said our friend borrowed your donkey."

Nasruddin replies. "Who are you going to believe, me or a donkey?"

I'll be telling that story tomorrow at a house concert as part of a

longer story (and not so subtle allusion to fake news. and how 

storytellers above all others must hold truth sacred!) about how 

storytelling once saved my life.
 

In discussing Cultural Appropriation - 
There's a great Nasruddin story. He invites a friend over and serves

a hearty soup. There are some leftovers. The next day, a stranger 

arrives, a friend of the friend. Want's some soup. And so it goes 

for day after day. Friend of a friend of a friend. Eventually he is 

serving water. soup of the the soup of the soup.  

The worst kind of cultural appropriation. without respect, without 

knowledge, without regard is soup of the soup of the soup. From the 

mouth of the teller, in the original cultural context, never written, 

never heard beyond the " village" so to speak is the soup.But since 

the days of Gilgamesh. and the Panchantantra etc. most of the stories 

that have come to us are some form of cultural appropriation. soup of 

the soup. but often still delicious.

By the way, when I talked privately in an email with Bob, he also said:

I'm not sure if I posted this. oh. now I remember, it was in a blog.
I asked a Lyft driver with roots in Lebanon about Nasruddin, Hodja. 

He drew a blank, but after some more conversation he knew who I was 

talking about.. Joha!

Remember my talking about that last week?

I had a conversation with a Turkish man and his reaction was more a Turkish Everyman in jokes.

LoiS(ticking with more traditional material -- there's certainly plenty of that deserving our attention)

***

RICHARD MARTIN - http://www.tellatale.eu/ 

Richard has those videos I posted at the start. He also took us back in story to two list members who now tell stories in The Great Beyond, Ofra Kipnis and Mark Wilson.

ADDED by Ofra:
in the mediterranean countries we eat seeds. melon seeds, watermelon 

seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds.  salted, grilled we crack them 

between the front teeth eat the seed and spit the hulk almost 

compulsively. it took many years of training and now the cinema 

theaters and the inside of the buses are no more carpeted with deep 

layers of seed hulks .
so when Hodja Nassar A din tried to rest one hot day at noon under a 

fig tree and a swarm of street urchins played  noisy games around His 

tree he sent them to the other side of the village :" what are you 

doing here didn't you hear that Mohammed is giving away seeds to 

honour the birth of his first son? ' the kids scattered and Hodja went 

back to sleep but..he could'not sleep the thought of the seeds kept him 

awake. Maybe it is true it is possible , why not ? May be Mohammed is 

married.. maybe a son is born and Hodja ran all the way not to miss
the (maybe last) seeds.
Shalom    ofra

Added by Mark Wilson

I'm sure there are many variants of the tale type. Here's one from the
mining camps of the American West:
An old prospector who never ran in luck died and went to heaven,but 

the place was so crowded he couldn't get in. St.Peter told him to hang 

around awhile and there might be room. After pondering the matter,the 

old fellow called an angel and whispered to him that there had been a 

gold strike down in hell;and at once there was a pell-mell rush of 

angels,and soon heaven was empty. As the horde fled downward,the 

prospector gazed after it hungrily and then turned to Peter. "You 

know,"he said,"mebbe there was some truth in that rumor."

The above collected by B.A.Botkin. I imagine that Nasruddin must also 

have told such a tale,probably other trickster's too...
Best,
Mark

and also Richard posts on his own website this story about the Hodja and a donkey.  Donkeys do seem to get into the tales.  By the way, he attributes that story to Lee-Ellen Marvin posting it long ago on the list.  With her permission, I give it here next.  (Handy that Marvin follows Martin alphabetically.)

***

LEE-ELLEN MARVIN

Ages ago on Storytell she wrote: 

Nasruddin and his Donkey Everyone in the village got "pilgrimage 

fever" and everyone got busy packing up some traveling clothes and 

food for the road.  All except for Nasruddin, who watched them 

labouring away.  Soon, all of the village: the men, women, and 

children, were heading out to Mecca.  They were singing songs and 

shouting with great excitement about how they were off to find God. 

They got about one mile away, when Nasruddin suddenly came riding 

up on his donkey, shouting about some terrible emergency. They 

caught the donkey and made him tell them what the problem was. 

"I'm trying to find my donkey! Where is my donkey?"  "Why, 
Nasruddin, you're sitting on top of your donkey," answered the 

villagers.  
"Oh really. Is that so. And why are you all going on a pilgrimage 

to find God?" 

***  

KIRAN SHAH - www.kiranstoryteller.com

Who reminds us "Okay to put my name as contributor rather than a source."

The other I remember is Hodja taking donkeys over the border and the 

official suspecting him of smuggling but there was nothing in 

donkeys' burdens. Years later after official had retired, Hodja 

reveals he was smuggling donkeys!

See what I mean about donkeys? That was in response to Sowmya Srinivasan's post 

which appears shortly.

***
ERICA SHADOWSONG

Nasruddin would tell stories, but the people didn't believe his 

tales. He went home to think of a story everyone would believe, and 

swore he would only leave that room when he had such a story. After 

a while, he found himself disturbed by children's noise outside in 

street. He decided he'll play a trick on them to get peace, by going 

outside and telling them, "In market at other end of town - they are 

giving away free melons." Sure enough, the children ran off, leaving 

Nasruddin in peace to think. As children ran others who saw them 

asked why.  When they heard about the free melons, more started 

running - children - adults ran - soon the whole town ran.  An old 

man happened to run by Nasruddin himself, and when Nasruddin asked 

why he was running, he told him.  Nasruddin thought, "Perhaps there
really are free melons."  And he ran off, too, showing that the 

only people who can tell really good stories must believe them 

themselves!

I included that version of a story told above to show how the same story changes and yet is the same.  Off the list I wrote that I had heard a similar story that supposedly happened with a leader of the French Revolution.  (Appropriately enough, today's blog will first appear on Bastille Day.)

***    

For some crazy (HTML?) reason the next story insists on being in a different type font, but it was indeed contributed by Sowmya.

SOWMYA SRINIVASAN -  http://ssstoryteller.blogspot.com/ and also check

https://reinventionstories.wordpress.com/

My favorite Hodja tale goes like this Hodja reached Mecca on a pilgrimage and looked for a place to stay one night.

No one had space in their caravanserai. Finally one kind keeper asked him to adjust with a man already sleeping in a room. Hodja lies down fully clothed with his fez and shoes on! Sometime later the other man ( who sleeps naked )wakes up to find Hodja lying down next him on the bed, fully clothed. Flabbergasted he wonders why someone would do that in this heat. Hodja explains that he too has a habit of sleeping naked and was not sure how he would be able to identify himself if they were both naked!( without clothes) Other man is amused He devices a plan..says Hodja could sleep with a doll tied to his leg(left in the room by a previous occupant)..and the one who wakes up with the doll around his leg would be Hodja! 
***

FRAN STALLINGS - https://www.franstallings.com/

Nasrudin was napping on his porch when a traveler roused him politely 

asking "Excuse me, how long will it take me to reach the next village?"

Nasrudin opened one eye, gazed at the traveler, went back to sleep.  

"I said, how long will it take me to reach the next village?" repeated 

the traveler.
Nasrudin opened the other eye, went back to sleep. 

"It's not a difficult question! Are you too stupid and lazy to answer?" 

the traveler berated.

Nasrudin didn't even bother to look - until the traveler stormed off 

in a huff. 

Then Nasrudin watched him several seconds and shouted after him, 

"Twenty minutes!"

The traveler returned angrily. "Why didn't you answer me before?"    

 
"I had to see how fast you walk."

******

I hope you have enjoyed your own walk through yet a few more stories about the Hodja.  Next week I'll give you resources to find books and other resources to continue the journey.