Tales & stories of water
"We never know the worth of water till the well is dry" - Thomas Fuller in Gnomologia, 1732.
Water is the subject of countless tales and anectodes. We wish to dedicate this page to the collection of tales and stories on water focussing on a geographical area stretching from Scotland to Korea, practically along Marco Polo' s famous silk road; this includes countries like Korea, Japan, Russia, India, Pakistan, Central Asian Republics, Iran, Turkey, Arabian world, North Africa and Europe.
This first issue is dedicated to HODJA NASREDDIN, folktales of whom are known along the Silk Road and increasingly in Europe as well. Hodja has no enemies and he is considered as a solid band between the folks of these regions, irrespective of religion, language or whatever background. He had great virtues, was witty and a philosopher and above all, he was a fair judge with common sense, human nature and humor. He knew what people were thinking and used his common sense to go through life.
There is no consensus as to who Hodja Nasreddin really was. Reportedly he was from Akshehir and lived during the reign of Murat I (1326 - 1389) and Yildirim Khan (1389 - 1402). Others claim he was a contemporary of Timurleng.
As the shortage of freshwater is an acute danger in many countries and conflicts may arise between those who control water resources and those who are not, it is worthwhile to use humor and common sense for practical and fair solutions.
Here is an abbreviated summary of a story in which Hodja Nasreddin was confronted with the villagers who had no well and carried water from a far away place.
Reference: martinauer.net/KINDER/
Human settlements - unthinkable without own water
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Digging a canal and being good at numbers
Once Hodja Nasreddin came to a village, whose inhabitants were extremely good at numbers. The village had no well and from each family each day someone had to walk for hours to a far away river, where water was filled in jugs, loaded on donkeys and camels and brought back to the village.
"Would it not make sense to have water in the village?", asked the Hodja.
"Indeed, much better", said the farmer where Hodja was staying. "Fetching water every day costs me two hours of work for a boy and a camel, which sums up to 1.460 hours per year. Had they worked in the field, I could plant an entire plot of pumpkins, harvesting additional 500 pumpkins each year".
"You got it nicely worked out, but why not digging a canal connecting the village with the river?", replied the Hodja.
"It' s easier said than done", answered the farmer. "There is a hill in the way, which would need to be removed. Using a boy and a camel would take them 500 years if they worked 2 hours a day. If I am lucky, I have got 30 more years to live, so it is cheaper for me to have them fetch the water!".
"But is it your responsibility alone to dig the canal?" the Hodja wanted to know.
"There are many families in this village!".
"Oh yes," answered the farmer, "we do have exactly 100 families in the village. If every family sent a boy and a camel every day for 2 hours, the canal could be finished in 5 years. If they worked for 10 hours a day, it would be finished in 1 year".
"So why do you not all agree to dig a canal together?".
"Well, if I have an important matter to discuss with a neighbour, I need to invite him to tea, talk with him about the weather and the prospects for the next harvest, about his family and so on. Then I have to serve a meal, then we have tea again. Then he is asking me about my family. That takes a whole day. Afterwards I would have to do the same with 99 other neighbours, but this is not possible, I would neglect my farm and get bankrupt. The best I could do is to invite 1 neighbour per week, but with only 52 weeks in a year, it would almost take 2 years to reach all neighbours. Knowing my neighbours, I know that every single one would finally agree that it would be better to dig the canal.
Every one would promise to join in, if the others joined in too. That means, that after 2 years, I would have to start all over again to tell them that the others have also agreed to join in the project".
"Excellent", said the Hodja, "but after 4 years you would be ready to start the work and 1 year later, the canal would be ready".
"But, there is another complication", replied the farmer. "Once the canal has been dug, everybody will be able to fetch water from it, whether he worked and shared in the cost or not".
"This is true", said the Hodja. "Even with the best will, you could not guard the entire length of the canal".
"This is precisely the point", answered the farmer. "Even a sluggard would have the same benefits from the construction, without having shared the expenses".
The Hodja admitted that this was the case.
"So everyone who is good at numbers will try to circumvent his responsibility. One day it will be a lame camel, the next day a sick boy and so on. Then someone' s wife will be ill and the boy and the camel need to fetch the doctor. Since everyone in our village is good at numbers, everyone will try to avoid doing his share. And since each of us knows that the other one would not get going, no one will send his boy and camel and the canal would not even get started".
"I must admit that your arguments are most convincing!", responded the Hodja.
"But I also know a village on the other side of the mountains, that had similar problems like you, but meanwhile they built their canal".
"This is true", answered the farmer, "but they are not good at numbers".
If you do have other stories of Hodja Nasreddin on water, we would be delighted to know them.