The Land
Dispute
One day a man who owned a field left it in
the care of another man. He took good care of the land, ploughing, weeding,
planting and harvesting it. When the owner came back he said to the man who had
been taking care of it, 'Give it back now. The land belongs to me.'
" 'No,' said the other man, 'I
won't. The land belongs to me. You are the owner, but I am the one who has
taken care of the land all this time. The land is mine.'
They began a fight, until the neighbours
brought them to a judge to settle the dispute. The judge happened to be Hodja
Nasrudin. Each man said, 'The land is mine! The land belongs to me!'
Hodja walked to the field, lay down in the
dirt, and put his ear to the ground. 'What are you doing, Nasrudin?' they
asked.
'I'm listening.' 'What are you listening to?'
'The land.'
Both men laughed at him. 'Listening to the
land? Listening to the land? What does the land have to say?'
Hodja looked up and said. 'The land says
it does not belong to either of you. It belongs to no one. It says you belong
to the land.' "
Being statues
About Nasreddin Hodja
Nasreddin Hodja is Turkey's (and perhaps all of Islam's) best-known trickster. His legendary wit and droll trickery were possibly based on the exploits and words of a historical imam. Nasreddin reputedly was born in 1208 in the village of Horto near Sivrihisar. In 1237 he moved to Aksehir, where he died in the Islamic year 683 (1284 or 1285). As many as 350 anecdotes have been attributed to the Hodja, as he most often is called. Hodja is a title meaning teacher or scholar. He frequently is compared with the northern European trickster Till Eulenspiegel.
The many spelling variations for Nasreddin include: Nasreddin, Nasrettin, Nasrudin, Nasr-id-deen, Nasr Eddin, Nasr-eddin, Nasirud-din, Nasr-ud-Din, Nasr-Eddin, and Nasr-Ed-Dine.
The many spelling variations for Hodja include: Hodja, Hodscha, Hoca, Chotza, Cogia, Khodja, and Khoja.
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