A Coin on the Donkey

Mulla Nasrudin waited
Until the sun’d gone down
To ride into town
To purchase vegetables.
On the way home
The tax assessor stopped him,
Asked him for payment.
Since the Mulla had already
Eaten his vegetables,
And knew he could not pass
Without paying,
He said, “Take,
Please, all you can
From the skin of my donkey.

The taxman let him pass.

--written at the Zen Center poetry group workshop

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2022 01:30AM by petersz.

Nasreddin (Turkish "Nasrettin Hoca", Persian ملا نصرالدین, Arabic: حجا transl.: ḥujā ,نصرالدين meaning "Victory of the Faith", transl.: Malai Mash-hoor, Albanian "Nastradin Hoxha" or just "Nastradini", Azeri"Molla Nəsrəddin" Bosnian "Nasrudin hodža", Uzbek "Nasriddin Afandi" or just "Afandi", Kazakh: Қожанасыр "Khozhanasir", Uyghur "Näsirdin Äfänti" [1][2][3] ) is a legendary satirical Sufi figure who lived during the Middle Ages (around 13th century), in Akşehir, and later in Konya, under the Seljuq rule.[4] Many nations of the Near, Middle East and Central Asia claim the Nasreddin as their own (i.e. Afghans,[5] Iranians,[4] Turks,[6][7][5][4] and Uzbeks[8]). His name is spelled differently in various cultures and is often preceded or followed by titles "Hodja", "Mullah", or "Effendi" (see section "Name variants"). Nasreddin was a populist philosopher and wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes.

Much of Nasreddin's actions can be described as illogical yet logical, rational yet irrational, bizarre yet normal, foolish yet sharp, and simple yet profound. What adds even further to his uniqueness is the way he gets across his messages in unconventional yet very effective methods in a profound simplicity.

1996–1997 was declared International Nasreddin Year by UNESCO. -- Wikipedia

link: [en.wikipedia.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/03/2022 01:44AM by petersz.

Gee Pete, I missed the year. 96-97 ya say... hmmmm, I must have been busy.

Me, too. Glad you're around now. I gave all my Nasrudin books to one of my kids to circulate amongst the three of them and I find she kept them for herself...not letting them go. Hah!

Peter