Lesson 15
Mullah Nasreddin Folktale
Intermediate
Lesson Infoاطلاعات درس
This lesson presents a folktale featuring the famed Nasreddin, a popular wise man who lived in the 13th century. Although definitive evidence is not available for his place of birth, competing cases have been made for Khorasan province in present-day Iran as well as Anatolia in present-day Turkey. Over the centuries, a vast corpus of stories featuring Nasreddin has accumulated and become popular throughout Central and South Asia, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Middle East, including Iran. The stories typically combine playful, droll, slightly absurdist humor and a moral lesson. A helpful overview of Nasreddin's life and cultural influence is available here.
In an example of Nasreddin's resonance over time, his name was used as the title of an Azeri satirical journal first published in Tbilisi in 1906. According to the 2011 book Molla Nasreddin: The Magazine that Would've Could've Should've: "While [the magazine] helped give rise to a new Azeri intellectual culture, Iran was arguably the country where it had is greatest impact: Molla Nasreddin focused relentlessly on the inefficiency and corruption of the Qajar dynasty, and its essays and illustrations acted as a preamble of sorts to the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906-1910, which resulted in the establishment of the first parliament in all of Asia."
Tags
Segmentsبخش ها
در نزدیکی ده ملانصرالدین مکان مرتفعی بود که شب ها باد می‌آمد و فوق‌العاده سرد می شد.
Persian 1/24
Dar nazidki-ye deh-e MollāNasreddin makān-e mortafa’-i bud ke shab-hā bād mi'āmad va foqolāde sard mishod.
Near Mullah Nasreddin's village, there was a high land [lit. place] where the wind would blow at night and it would become extremely cold.
دوستان ملانصرالدین گفتند:
Persian 2/24
Dust-ān-e MollāNasreddin goftand:
Mullah Nasreddin's friends said [to him]:
«ملا اگر بتوانی یک شب تا صبح بدون آنکه از آتشی استفاده کنی در آن تپه بمانی،
Persian 3/24
''Mollāh, agar betavāni yek shab tā sobh bedun-e ānke az ātash-i estefāde koni dar ān tape bemāni,
“Mullah, if you can stay on that hill one night till the morning without using any fire,
ما یک سور به تو می دهیم و گرنه تو باید یک مهمانی مفصل به همه‌ی ما بدهی.»
Persian 4/24
mā yek sur be to midahim vagarna to bāyad yek mehmāni-ye mofasal be hame-ye mā bedahi.
we give you a feast; otherwise you should give us all a great feast.”
ملانصرالدین قبول کرد.
Persian 5/24
MollāNasreddin qabul kard.
Mullah Nasreddin accepted.
شب در آنجا رفت و تا صبح به خود پیچید و سرما را تحمل کرد, صبح که آمد گفت:
Persian 6/24
Shab dar ānjā raft va tā sobh be xod pichid va sarmā rā tahamol kard, sobh ke āmad goft:
He went there at night and tossed and turned until morning and endured the cold. When he came [back] in the morning, he said:
«من برنده شدم و باید به من سور دهید.»
Persian 7/24
''Man barande shodam va bāyad be man sur dahid.''
“I won [lit. I became a winner] and you have to give me a feast.”
گفتند: «ملا از هیچ آتشی استفاده نکردی؟»
Persian 8/24
Goftand: ''Mollā az hich ātash-i estefāde nakardi?''
They said: “Mullah, didn't you use any fire?”
ملانصرالدین گفت: «نه، فقط در یکی از دهات اطراف یک پنجره روشن بود
Persian 9/24
Mollā Nasreddin goft: ''Na, faqat dar yek-i az dehāt-e atrāf yek panjere roshan bud
Mullah Nasreddin said: “No, only in one of the nearby villages a window was lit
و معلوم بود شمعی در آنجا روشن است.»
Persian 10/24
va ma’lum bud sham'-i dar ānjā roshan ast.''
and it was clear a candle was lit there.”
دوستان گفتند: «همان آتش تورا گرم کرده و بنابراین شرط را باختی و باید مهمانی بدهی.»
Persian 11/24
Dust-ān goftand: ''Hamān ātash to rā garm karde va banābar in shart rā baxti va bāyad mehmāni bedahi.''
[The] friends said: “That same fire has warmed you, therefore you've lost the bet and you should throw a party.”
ملانصرالدین قبول کرد و گفت: «فلان روز ناهار به منزل من بیایید.»
Persian 12/24
MollāNasreddin qabul kard va goft: ''Felān ruz nāhār be manzel-e man biyāyid.''
Mullah Nasreddin accepted and said: “Come to my home on such-and-such day for lunch.”
"Felān", which we have translated as "such-and-such", is used when a specific detail is not important to the overall point.
روز موعود فرا رسید و دوستان ملانصرالدین یکی یکی آمدند،
Persian 13/24
Ruz-e mo’ud farā resid va dust-ān-e MollāNasreddin yek-i yek-i āmadand
The promised day arrived and Mullah Nasreddin's friends came one after another
اما نشانی از ناهار نبود.
Persian 14/24
amā neshān-i az nāhār nabud.
but there wasn't any sign of lunch.
گفتند: «ملا، انگار ناهاری در کار نیست.»
Persian 15/24
Goftand: ''Mollā, engār nāhār-i dar kār nist.''
They said: “Mullah! It seems like there isn't any lunch.”
They said: “Mullah! It seems like a lunch isn't in the works"
ملانصرالدین گفت: «چرا ولی هنوز آماده نشده،»
Persian 16/24
MollāNasreddin goft: ''Cherā vali hanuz āmāde nashode".
Mullah Nasreddin said “There is, but it isn't ready yet".
Mullah Nasreddin said “Yes, but it hasn't become ready yet”.
دو سه ساعت دیگر هم گذشت، باز ناهار حاضر نبود.
Persian 17/24
Do se sā’at-e digar ham gozasht, bāz nāhār hāzer nabud.
Another two, three hours also passed; lunch was still not ready.
ملانصرالدین گفت: «آب هنوز جوش نیامده که برنج را درونش بریزم.»
Persian 18/24
MollāNasreddin goft: ''Āb hanuz jush nayāmade ke berenj rā darun-ash berizam.''
Mullah Nasreddin said: “The water hasn't come to a boil yet so that I (may) pour the rice into it.”
ریختن (rixtan), just like the English word "pour", can be used for both liquid and non- liquid things.
دوستان به آشپزخانه رفتند ببینند چگونه آب به جوش نمی آید.
Persian 19/24
Dustān be āshpazxāne raftand bebinand chegune āb be jush nemiāyad.
[The] friends went to the kitchen to see how the water was not boiling.
دیدند ملانصرالدین یک دیگ بزرگ به طاق آویزان کرده
Persian 20/24
Didand MollāNasreddin yek dig-e bozorg be tāq āvizān karde
They saw that Mullah Nasreddin had [lit. has] hung a big cauldron from the ceiling,
دو متر پایین تر یک شمع کوچک زیر دیگ نهاده.
Persian 21/24
do metr pāyin-tar yek sham’-e kuchak zir-e diq nahāde.
[and] two meters further below he had [lit has] put a little candle underneath the caldron
گفتند: «ملانصرالدین این شمع کوچک نمی تواند از فاصله دو متری دیگ به این بزرگی را گرم کند.»
Persian 22/24
Goftand: ''Mollā Nasreddin in sham’-e kuchak nemitavānad az fāsele-ye do metr-i dig-e be in bozorg-i rā garm konad.''
They said: “Mullah Nasreddin, this tiny candle can't, from a two-meter distance, warm up a cauldron this big.”
ملانصرالدین گفت: «چطور از فاصله چند کیلومتری می توانست مرا روی تپه گرم کند؟
Persian 23/24
Mollā Nasreddin goft: ''Chetor az fāsele-ye chand kilumetr-i mitavānest marā ru-ye tape garm konad?''
Mullah Nasreddin said: “How could it warm me up on the hill from a few kilometers distance?
شما بنشینید تا آب جوش بیاید و غذا آماده شود.»
Persian 24/24
Shomā beneshinid tā āb jush biyāyad va qazā āmāde shavad.
You sit (and wait) until the water comes to a boil and the food is [lit. becomes] ready.”