Cleverness

No one knew where Mona went after she left the camp, for no one had paid attention to her—everyone was busy with what had happened in the early morning when the occupation soldiers had attacked the houses. They had stormed the doors and broken them down, and they had seized the men and driven them to the square. As for the boys, they didn’t leave a single one; they dragged all of them to the military vehicles. The women screamed, and the small children cried as if fire were burning them. ...

Juha made a request to his old father to make him a minister to the Caliph in an old country. He would rule this country without distinguishing between right and wrong. After Juha arrived, it entered the Caliph’s head to teach his donkey the alphabetic letters. He requested the wise man and requested him to teach the donkey the alphabetic letters. The wise man rejected this request, then said to him: Juha, why would a donkey learn? I have not heard about something like this in my life nor in the life of our ancestors. ...

It is told that in one of the times, there was a simple peasant man whom God Almighty had blessed with the talent of understanding the language of animals. This simple, intelligent peasant named Hamdan was about to buy a donkey to help him in work and fulfill his needs. Hamdan remembered while going to the market to buy one that his neighbor was selling a donkey. He went to him to buy it. Indeed, the generous neighbor welcomed him and sold it to him at a price that pleases God without being unjust to his right. ...

One day, the fox went out of the forest searching for food. He found nothing in his path except the turtle. When she saw him, she extended her head to him. When the fox saw the turtle’s head, he gritted his teeth and licked his saliva while panting and hurried to get her head, saying to himself: I must get her to satisfy my hunger. When he approached her, she put her head into her house, which is the weapon she defends herself with. ...

The tiger said to the fox: Let us race from the top of the world to its bottom, and whoever wins becomes the master of the world! The Cunning Fox: The fox agreed, and the tiger leaped launching, without noticing that the fox had hung onto his tail to drag him along wherever he went. As soon as the tiger was about to reach the other end of the world, he suddenly looked around to mock the fox, whom he believed had lagged far behind him. ...

Parents and those older than us who care about us often advise us not to stand and talk to strangers, or give them great safety and trust when we know nothing about them. The world is full of evildoers who can harm us. In addition to that, listening to parents’ advice makes us dutiful to them, for they know best that in life there are evil people who may attract us with sweet talk and excessive praise until we fall into their traps, and they can attack us later. This is likely what happened to the poor crow. ...

A rich man kept a treasure, a dog, and a fox, in addition to a silver ship model. This was a magic amulet that one of the angels had given him—I do not know who. One day, this amulet was stolen! The Amulet and Ruin: No one found the amulet in any place. He grieved greatly, to the extent that he lay in bed fasting, even from eating food, and approached death. During that time, the dog and the fox were playing in his room, but after some time, when they saw that the man was about to die of hunger, they actually died of hunger. ...

The little girl Salamā lost her doll. She searched for it in the field, among the trees, near the waterway, and in every place, but did not find it. On the way, she asked a sparrow and said: “Did you see my doll, O sparrow?” The sparrow shook its head and flew away. Salamā walked, weeping near a pond when a turtle emerged. She asked her: “Did you see my doll, O turtle?” The turtle said: “Doll, I do not understand anything you ask about.” It dived into the water. ...

Nasreddin was leading a donkey and carrying on its back a bundle of wooden sticks, trying to cross the border, when Inspector Rakan stopped him for inspection and asked him: What is your name, man, and what is the nature of your work? Nasreddin answered: I am an honest smuggler and my name is Nasreddin. Inspector Rakan was surprised by Nasreddin’s strange response! He said to him: What are you saying, man? Do you admit you are a smuggler? Nasreddin said: Yes, I am. Inspector Rakan searched him well but didn’t find anything with him. ...

In one village there were three wives, none of whom had become pregnant despite several years passing since their marriages. One day the neighbors heard a vendor calling in the street: “Apples for pregnancy! Apples for pregnancy!” They hurried to him, and he had two apples and half an apple. He gave the first wife one apple, the second wife one apple, and the third wife half the apple. The first wife gave birth to a boy and named him Nāfiʿ, the second wife gave birth to a boy and named him ʿUmar, and the third wife gave birth to a boy of strange appearance and named him Niṣf Nuṣayṣ. He had one sound arm and the other paralyzed, and the same condition with his legs, but he was brilliant in intelligence. ...