A32 When Shall I Die?

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

xá-yuma ⁺malla ⁺Nasradən váyələ tiva ⁺ʾal-k̭esa. xa mən-našə ⁺várəva, mərrə ⁺malla ʾatən ʾo-k̭esa pramut, bət-naplət. mərrə bŏro baba ʾatən꞊da ⁺šula lətlux tiyyət b-diyyi k̭itət. ⁺šuk̭ si-⁺bar-⁺šulux. ʾana ⁺šūl-gánilə. naplən naplən. ⁺hala ʾo-naša leva xiša xa ⁺ʾəsrá ⁺pasulyáy, ⁺malla bitáyələ drum ⁺ʾal-⁺ʾarra. bək̭yámələ ⁺bərxáṱələ ⁺baru. mara ⁺maxleta, ʾatən ⁺dilux ʾana bət-náplənva m-⁺al-ʾilana. bas-tánili xazən ʾana ʾiman bət-metən. ʾo-naša xzilə k̭at-ʾá ⁺malla honu xač̭č̭a … ⁺basúrələ mərrə k̭atu ⁺maxleta, mədrə, ⁺raba ⁺maxleta. mərrə k̭at-ʾiman xmartux ⁺ṱla gahə ⁺ʾarṱala, ʾó-yuma metət. ʾó-yumət xmartux ⁺ṱla gahə ⁺ʾarṱala, ʾó-yuma metət. ⁺malla múttəva … ⁺ṱana ⁺yak̭uyra ⁺ʾal-xmarta. ⁺ṱana məndi ⁺raba múttəva ⁺ʾal-xmarta ʾu-xmarta ⁺báyyava ʾask̭ava ⁺ʾullul. ʾu-bas-poxa ⁺pləṱlə mənnó. ṱər, ⁺riṱala. ⁺malla mərrə ʾaha, ʾana dūn k̭arbunə k̭a-myata. xač̭č̭a꞊da sək̭la xa-xita. ganu mudməxxalə ⁺ʾal-⁺ʾarra. mərrə xina ⁺dān mótila. ʾē꞊t-d-⁺ṱla ⁺malla mətlə. našə, xuyravatu xəšlun tilun mərrun ʾa mú-vadət? k̭a-mú꞊ivət ⁺tamma? mərrə xob-ʾana mitən. la bəxzáyətun k̭at-mitən! la mərrun ʾat-xaya! hamzúməvət. bəšvák̭una ⁺tama mara xmárələ, lelə ⁺p̂armuyə.

One day mullah Nasradin is sitting on a branch of wood. A person was entering and said ‘Mullah, you are cutting that wood, you will fall.’ He said ‘Go away, mate, it is not your business to come and harass me. Leave me alone and go about your own business. This is my business. If I fall, I fall.’ Before the man had gone a (distance) of ten steps, the mullah falls bump—on the ground. He gets up and runs after him. He says ‘Excuse me; you knew that I would fall from the tree. But tell me so that I know when I shall die. The man saw that the mullah’s brain was rather lacking. He said to him—excuse me, excuse me—he said ‘When your jenny farts three times, on that day you will die. On the day that your jenny farts three times, on that day you will die.’ The mullah had put a heavy load on the jenny. He had put a load, many things, on the jenny and the jenny wanted to climb upwards, and then wind came out of her, brrr, she farted. The mullah said ‘That is it, I am approaching death.’ She went up a little more (and farted) another (fart). He lay himself down on the ground. He said ‘Well, it is the time of my death.’ At the third (fart), the mullah died. Some people, his friends, came and said ‘Oh, what are you doing? Why are you there?’ He said ‘Well, I am dead. Surely you see that I am dead!’ ‘No’ they said ‘You are alive! You are speaking.’ They leave him there and say ‘He is an ass, he does not understand.’