The Turkish Jester | Page 9

the place where he was lying, 'The ass is dead, it seems, and not the
master.'
One day as the Cogia was cutting wood in the mountain, a wolf,
coming up to his ass, began to devour it; but on seeing the Cogia, it
took the ass and went away. A man who saw what happened, cried out,
'There he goes!' Whereupon the Cogia said, 'Hallo, man: why do you
cry out? You must not hinder a wolf who has dined from mounting.'

One day as the Cogia was conducting his ass to the market, the tail of
the animal becoming draggled with mud, the Cogia cut it off and put it
into a sack. Arriving at the market, he put up the ass to auction; and on
a person crying out, 'What is the use of this tailless creature?' he said,
'Don't you leave your tail in the desert when you come to market?'
One day as the Cogia was coming from a distant place, his ass chanced
to be very thirsty, when all of a sudden they arrived at the margin of a
pool. Unfortunately, however, the sides of the pool were very steep,
and the ass of the Cogia, on seeing the water, not being able to restrain
himself, ran forward to the pool. Just as he was falling in, the frogs of
the pool began to croak violently; their voices frightening the ass, he
ran back. The Cogia, however, seized hold of him, and exclaiming,
'Bravo, ye birds of the pool!' he took out a handful of aspres, and flung
them into the pool, saying, 'Here's something for sweetmeats: take and
eat.'
In the time of Cogia Nasr Eddin Efendi, three priests, who showed
themselves versed in every kind of learning, travelling through the
world, at last came to the country of the Soldan Ala Eddin. The
Emperor invited them to accept the true faith; whereupon the three said,
'Each one of us has a question to ask, and if you can give us an answer,
we will adopt your religion.' All agreed to this condition; and Soldan
Ala Eddin having assembled his ulemas and sheiks, not one of them
was able to make any reply to the questions of the strangers. The
Soldan Ala Eddin was very much incensed and mortified, and
exclaimed, 'So there is not one of the ulemas and sheiks in the countries
beneath my jurisdiction who can answer these fellows.' Whereupon one
of the ulemas replied, 'Though none of us can answer these questions,
perhaps Cogia Nasr Eddin Efendi can.' The Emperor, on hearing these
words, gave orders to his Tartar messengers to go in quest of Nasr
Eddin Efendi. The Tartars, with all imaginable speed, went their way,
and having found the Cogia, communicated to him the commands of
the Sultan. Nasr Eddin, that moment saddling his ass, took his staff in
his hand, and mounting the animal, said to the Tartar, 'Lead the way
and set off straight for the palace of Soldan Ala Eddin.' On his arrival,
he went into the presence of the Emperor, to whom he said, 'Salaam,'

and received the same salutation from the Sultan, who, pointing out a
place to him, bade him sit down. Said the Cogia to the Emperor, after
wishing him a blessing, 'For what may it have pleased you to summon
me?' Whereupon the Soldan Ala Eddin told him the whole
circumstance. The Cogia forthwith turning to the priests said, 'What are
your questions?' Then one of the priests, coming forward, said, 'May it
please your Efendiship, my question is this: "Where may the middle of
the earth be?"' Thereupon the Cogia, instantly dismounting from his ass,
pointed with his staff to the fore foot of the ass, saying, 'The middle of
the earth is the spot on which my ass's foot stands.' 'How do you know
that?' said the priest. 'If you doubt my words,' said the Cogia, 'take a
measure and see whether it comes to more or less.' Another of the
priests coming forward said, 'How many stars are there in the face of
the heaven above us?' Said the Cogia, 'As many hairs as there are upon
my ass so many stars are there in the heaven.' 'How do you know?' said
the priest. 'If you doubt,' said the Cogia, 'come and count, and if there is
any difference, say at once.' 'Have you counted, then,' said the priest,
'the hairs upon your ass?' 'And have you counted how many stars there
are?' said the Cogia. Then another priest coming forward said, 'If you
can answer my question the whole of us will adopt your religion.'
'Speak,' said the Cogia, 'let us hear it.' 'Tell me, O Cogia,' said the priest,
'how many hairs there are in this