A11 The Cat’s Dinner

Yulia Davudi of ⁺Hassar ⁺Baba-čanga in Sydney, Australia

xá-yuma ⁺malla ⁺Nasradən múyyəva xa ⁺batman ⁺busra. ⁺batman ʾila lišān turcət ⁺batman, ⁺yanə tre ⁺ṱla ciloyə, ⁺ʾarp̂á ciloyə. ⁺busra múyyəva beta. k̭a-baxtu mərrə k̭at ⁺xayəš vadən ʾa ⁺busra ʾodatlə ⁺ṱuyatə. ⁺berašə bašlatlə, ʾana ṱ-avili-ʾarxə. ⁺malla bərrəxšəl ⁺bar pəlxanu. baxta, baxtət ⁺malla, bək̭yáməla jaldə jaldə, bašúlula ⁺busra, bək̭ráyəla ⁺xavəryato, ⁺bixáluna. ⁺berašə bitáyələ ⁺malla, mara bas-celə ⁺busra? bušəltut yan-lá? mara la, ʾana hal k̭əmli mank̭al tapyánvala ʾayya ⁺k̭aṱu ⁺xə́ltula cullə ⁺busra. ⁺malla máyələ maseta. máyolə mara mela ⁺k̭aṱu laxxa, ʾana tak̭lənna. mayol ⁺k̭aṱu bətk̭álolə. bəxzáyələ la, ⁺k̭aṱu buš ⁺basúrtəla. ʾayya ʾən-ʾoya ⁺ʾarp̂á-ciloyə, xamšá-ciloyə ⁺busra ʾoya ⁺xəltu, gari ʾadi ⁺ʾəsrá ciloyə. k̭a-baxtu bək̭yámələ mxáyələ ⁺ʾal-moto. mara ʾatən dagulət k̭a-diyyi. ⁺busra ganax ⁺xə́ltuvat. ⁺k̭aṱu ʾən-ʾóyava ⁺xəlta, ʾadi vítəva yaccə, ⁺ṱrəsta.

One day mullah Nasradin had brought a batman of meat. A batman is Azeri, it means two or three kilos, four kilos. He had brought meat home. He said to his wife ‘I would like you to make this meat into kebabs. Cook it in the evening, I shall have guests.’ The mullah goes about his business. The wife, the wife of the mullah, quickly cooks the meat, invites her friends and they eat it. In the evening the mullah comes and says ‘But where is the meat? Have you cooked it or not?’ She says ‘No, before I could light the grill, that cat ate all the meat.’ The mullah brings scales. He brings them and says ‘Bring the cat here, I shall weigh it.’ He brings the cat and weighs it. He says that no, the cat is less. If she is four kilos and has eaten five kilos of meat, she must now be ten kilos. He gets up and gives his wife a thorough beating. He says ‘You are lying to me. You have eaten the meat yourself. If the cat had eaten, she would now be huge, fat.’