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                       TOLD IN THE COFFEE HOUSE




                       Told in the Coffee House

                             Turkish Tales


                    Collected and done into English
                                  by
                     CYRUS ADLER AND ALLAN RAMSAY


                               New York
                         The Macmillan Company
                     London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
                                 1898

                         _All rights reserved_


                           COPYRIGHT, 1898,
                       By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.


                             Norwood Press
                 J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith
                         Norwood Mass. U.S.A.




                               PREFACE


In the course of a number of visits to Constantinople, I became much
interested in the tales that are told in the coffee houses. These are
usually little more than rooms, with walls made of small panes of
glass. The furniture consists of a tripod with a contrivance for
holding the kettle, and a fire to keep the coffee boiling. A carpeted
bench traverses the entire length of the room. This is occupied by
turbaned Turks, their legs folded under them, smoking nargilehs or
chibooks or cigarettes, and sipping coffee. A few will be engaged in a
game of backgammon, but the majority enter into conversation, at first
only in syllables, which gradually gives rise to a general discussion.
Finally, some sage of the neighborhood comes in, and the company
appeals to him to settle the point at issue. This he usually does by
telling a story to illustrate his opinion. Some of the stories told on
these occasions are adaptations of those already known in Arabic and
Persian literature, but the Turkish mind gives them a new setting and
a peculiar philosophy. They are characteristic of the habits, customs,
and methods of thought of the people, and for this reason seem worthy
of preservation.

Two of these tales have been taken from the Armenian, and were
received from Dr. K. Ohannassian of Constantinople. For one, _The
Merciful Khan_, I am indebted to Mr. George Kennan. None of them has
been translated from any book or manuscript, and all are, as nearly as
practicable, in the form in which they are usually narrated. Most of
the stories have been collected by Mr. Allan Ramsay, who, by a long
residence in Constantinople, has had special opportunities for
learning to know the modern Turk. It is due to him, however, to say
that for the style and editing he is in no wise responsible, and that
all sins of omission and commission must be laid at my door.

                                                     CYRUS ADLER.
  COSMOS CLUB, WASHINGTON,
     February 1, 1898.




                               CONTENTS


                                                                PAGE
  HOW THE HODJA SAVED ALLAH                                        1
  BETTER IS THE FOLLY OF WOMAN THAN THE WISDOM OF MAN             13
  THE HANOUM AND THE UNJUST CADI                                  23
  WHAT HAPPENED TO HADJI, A MERCHANT OF THE BEZESTAN              29
  HOW THE JUNKMAN TRAVELLED TO FIND TREASURE IN HIS OWN YARD      35
  HOW CHAPKIN HALID BECAME CHIEF DETECTIVE                        43
  HOW COBBLER AHMET BECAME THE CHIEF ASTROLOGER                   52
  THE WISE SON OF ALI PASHA                                       65
  THE MERCIFUL KHAN                                               73
  KING KARA-KUSH OF BITHYNIA                                      77
  THE PRAYER RUG AND THE DISHONEST STEWARD                        80
  THE GOOSE, THE EYE, THE DAUGHTER, AND THE ARM                   84
  THE FORTY WISE MEN                                              89
  HOW THE PRIEST KNEW THAT IT WOULD SNOW                         103
  WHO WAS THE THIRTEENTH SON?                                    107
  PARADISE SOLD BY THE YARD                                      120
  JEW TURNED TURK                                                126
  THE METAMORPHOSIS                                              130
  THE CALIF OMAR                                                 138
  KALAIDJI AVRAM OF BALATA                                       140
  HOW MEHMET ALI PASHA OF EGYPT ADMINISTERED JUSTICE             144
  HOW THE FARMER LEARNED TO CURE HIS WIFE: A TURKISH AESOP        148
  THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS                                          153
  THE SWALLOW'S ADVICE                                           156
  WE KNOW NOT WHAT THE DAWN MAY BRING FORTH                      158
  OLD MEN MADE YOUNG                                             161
  THE BRIBE                                                      165
  HOW THE DEVIL LOST HIS WAGER                                   169
  THE EFFECTS OF RAKI                                            172




HOW THE HODJA SAVED ALLAH


Not far from the famous Mosque Bayezid an old Hodja kept a school, and
very skilfully he taught the rising generation the everlasting lesson
from the Book of Books. Such knowledge had he of human nature that by
a glance at his pupil