Sheikh Nasreddin and the Miserሼክ ናስረዲንና ስስታሙ ሰው
Hararሐረር · 2 min readደቂቃ ንባብ
Narrated by Hajji Abdu Settar Mohammed Bashir
Once there was Nasreddin’s neighbour who was a miser but very rich, while Nasreddin was very poor. He used to beg Allah to give him £1,000 sterling. One day the miser heard Nasreddin praying and he decided to go on to the roof of the mosque and drop down to him £999 sterling. The miser goes to the mosque and while Nasreddin begs God to give him money, he drops it on the ground. Nasreddin was very happy and picked up the bundle and started to count it. He discovered it was £1 short.
He looks up at the sky and says, “God, you still are short of £1, you still owe me £1.”
The next day his neighbour goes to his house and says, “Listen, I’ve heard all your prayers. In your prayers you said you would not accept the money you were praying for, if it was less than £1,000. But when I gave you £999, you didn’t leave it. You took it.”
Nasreddin said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get out of my house.”
The miser takes him to the judge.
Before starting the journey, the miser brought his mule and put on his coat.
Nasreddin says, “I’m too old. I can’t walk and I’m very cold, so if you want me to come to the court I must put on your coat and ride on the mule.”
The miser agreed since he didn’t want to lose his £1,000. So they began the journey to the courthouse. When Nasreddin saw the judge from far away he began to shout so that the judge would notice him on the mule in the coat. So the Qadi heard and looked and saw an old man on the mule. Nasreddin got off the mule’s back and tied the mule and both accuser and defender presented themselves to the Qadi.
The accuser, the miser, said, “My Lord, this old person, I used to hear him pray to God to give him £1,000, no more and no less. So I decided to challenge him, so I gave him £999, £1 short of £1,000. But he took the money and broke his word.”
Nasreddin said, “My Lord, this man is insane. I can prove it. He will claim in front of you that the coat I’m wearing belongs to him.”
The miser interrupted, “Of course it’s mine!”
Nasreddin says, “Not only with the coat can I prove it. You have seen me coming on a mule’s back. But he’ll claim that the mule is his.”
The miser shouted, “Of course it’s mine!”
So the Qadi was convinced that the miser was mad, and he sent him away. So they went home, but the miser was very, very sad.
Nasreddin called up to him and said, “Why do you try to interfere between man and God? Never try to do this kind of thing again.”
Then he gave him back his money.
ሼክ ናስረዲንና ስስታሙ ሰው
በሃጂ አብዱሰታር መሃመድ በሽር የተተረከ
በአንድ ወቅት በጣም ስስታም ነገር ግን በጣም ሃብታም የሆነ የናስረዲን ጎረቤት ነበር፡፡ ናስረዲን ግን በጣም ድሃ ነበር፡፡ ናስረዲንም አላህ 1000 ፓውንድ እንዲሰጠው ይፀልይ ነበር፡፡ ታዲያ አንድ ቀን ስስታሙ ሰው የናስረዲንን ፀሎት ሲሰማ የመስጊዱ ጣሪያ ላይ ወጥቶ 999 ፓውንድ ሊወረውርለት አሰበ፡፡ ወደ መስጊዱም በመሄድ ናስረዲን አምላኩ ገንዘብ እንዲሰጠው ሲፀልይ ስስታሙ ሰው ገንዘቡን ማዝነብ ጀመረ፡፡ ናስረዲንም በጣም ተደስቶ ገንዘቡን ከሰበሰበ በኋላ መቁጠር ጀመረ፡፡ በመጨረሻም 1 ፓውንድ መጉደሉን ሲያውቅ ወደ ሰማይ አንጋጦ “አምላክ ሆይ፣ 1 ፓውንድ አጉድለህብኛልና ዕዳ አለብህ፡፡” አለ፡፡
በሚቀጥለው ቀን ጎረቤቱ ወደ ናስረዲን ቤት ሄዶ “አዳምጥ፣ ፀሎትህን ሁሉ ሰምቻለሁ በፀሎትህም የለመንከውን ገንዘብ 1000 ፓውንድ ካነሰ አልቀበልም ማለትህን ሰምቻለሁ፡፡ እኔ ግን 999 ፓውንድ ስሰጥህ ተቀብለሃል” አለው፡፡
ናስረዲንም “ስለምን እያወራህ እንደሆነ አላውቅም፡፡ ውጣ ከቤቴ” አለው፡፡
ስስታሙም ሰው ወደ ዳኛ ወሰደው፡፡ መንገድ ከመጀመራቸው በፊት ግን ስስታሙ ሰው በቅሎውን ጭኖ ኮቱን ለበሰ፡፡
ይህንን ባየ ጊዜ ናስረዲን “እኔ በጣም አርጅቻለሁ፣ በእግሬ መጓዝ አልችልም፡፡ በጣም ስለበረደኝም ወደ ዳኛ እንድሄድ ከፈለክ ኮትህን ለብሼ በቅሎህን መሳፈር አለብኝ፡፡” አለው፡፡
ስስታሙም ሰው 1000 ፓውንዱን ማጣት ስላልፈለገ በሃሳቡ ተስማማ፡፡
ከዚያም ጉዟቸውን ወደ ፍርድ ቤት ቀጠሉ፡፡ ናስረዲንም ዳኛውን በርቀት ባየው ጊዜ ኮት ለብሶ በቅሎዋን የተሳፈረው እሱ መሆኑን ዳኛው እንዲያይለት መጮህ ጀመረ፡፡ በዚህ ጊዜ ቃዲው ድምፁን ሰምቶ ሲመለከት ሽማግሌውን ሰው ከበቅሎው ላይ አየው፡፡ ናስረዲን ከበቅሎዋ ላይ ወርዶ ካሰራት በኋላ ከሳሽና ተከሳሽ ከዳኛው ፊት ቀረቡ፡፡
ከሣሹ ስስታም ሰው “ጌታዬ ይህ ሽማግሌ አምላክን ‘1000 ፓውንድ ስጠኝ፡፡ ከዚያ ያነሰም ሆነ የበለጠ አልቀበልም’ ብሎ ሲፀልይ ሰምቼ ልፈትነው በማሰብ 999 ፓውንድ ብሰጠው ቃሉን አጥፎ ገንዘቡን ወስዷል፡፡” ብሎ ከሰሰው፡፡
ናስረዲንም በተራው “ጌታዬ ይህ ሰው እብድ ነው፡፡ ይህንን ማረጋገጥ እችላለሁ፡፡ በእርስዎ ፊት ይህንን የለበስኩትን ኮት የእኔ ነው ይላል፡፡” አለ፡፡
ስስታሙም ሰው አቋርጦት “በእርግጥ ኮቱ የኔ ነው!” ብሎ ጮኸ፡፡ ናስረዲንም በመቀጠል “በኮቱ ብቻ አይደለም የማረጋግጠው፡፡ በበቅሎ ስመጣ እርስዎ ጌታዬ አይተዋል፡፡ እሱ ግን በቅሎው የኔ ነው ይላል፡፡” አለ፡፡
ስስታሙም ሰው በድጋሚ “በእርግጥም የእኔ ነው::” ብሎ ጮኸ፡፡ ቃዲውም እውነትም ስስታሙ ሰው እብድ ነው ብሎ በማሰብ አባረረው፡፡ ወደ የቤታቸው ሲመለሱ ስስታሙ ሰው እጅግ በጣም አዝኖ ነበር፡፡
ናስረዲንም ጠርቶት “በሰውና በአምላክ መሃከል ለምን ለመግባት ትሞክራለህ? ሁለተኛ ይህ ድርጊት እንዳይለምድህ፡፡” ብሎ ገንዘቡን መለሰለት፡፡
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Check your understandingግንዛቤዎን ይፈትሹ
What kind of person was Nasreddin's neighbour?
How much money did Nasreddin beg Allah to give him?
From where did the miser drop the money down to Nasreddin?
How much money did the miser actually drop, and how much was it short?
When the miser asked for his money back, what did Nasreddin say?
Why did Nasreddin say he needed to wear the miser's coat and ride his mule?
For discussionለውይይት
- Do you think Nasreddin was clever or dishonest when he kept the £999? Explain why you think so.
- Why do you think the miser agreed to let Nasreddin wear his coat and ride his mule? What does this show about the miser?
- What lesson do you think this story is trying to teach us? Share your ideas.
- If you were the judge, what would you decide about the money? Give your reasons.