The Hodja's Guests and the Soup
One by one, the "relatives" of a hare come to the Hodja as guests, and each time the Hodja adds more water to the soup.
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One day a villager gave Nasreddin Hodja a hare as a present. The Hodja's wife made a lovely soup with the hare. The Hodja invited the villager to the table too, and they ate it together with great pleasure.
A week later there was a knock at the door. A man the Hodja did not know was standing there: "Hodja, I'm the neighbour of the man who brought you a hare last week." The Hodja invited him in, added a little water to the leftover soup, heated it up and served it to him.
The next week someone else came to the door: "Hodja, I'm the neighbour of the neighbour of the man who brought the hare." Again the Hodja invited him in, added a little more water to the soup and served it. By now the soup was rather watery.
The week after that, three people came to the door at once: "Hodja, we're the neighbours of the neighbour of the neighbour of the man who brought the hare." This time the Hodja put a huge pot of water on the stove, boiled it and set it before the guests.
The guests lifted their spoons to their mouths: the soup was plain hot water! "Hodja, what kind of soup is this?" The Hodja smiled: "This is the water of the water of the water of the hare's soup. And you are the neighbours of the neighbour of the neighbour of the hare. Everyone gets a share according to how far away they are."
At first the guests were embarrassed, and then they burst out laughing. One of them confessed: "Hodja, the truth is, we came for a free meal." The Hodja laughed too: "I know, my boys. But since you've come, I won't send you away empty-handed." He called his wife, and she brought them fresh bread, cheese and olives.
As the guests left with full stomachs, the Hodja said to them: "If you come again, bring a hare yourselves. Then we'll eat the soup itself." A month later those three men really did come with a hare each. That day such a soup was cooked in the Hodja's house that the whole neighbourhood was fed.
This story tells us: it isn't nice to keep turning up at someone's table using an old kindness as an excuse. But a big heart like the Hodja's knows how to turn even that into something lovely to share.
The tale ends here. Sleep well.
The Hodja's Guests and the Soup is a children's tale from Nasreddin Hodja, suitable for ages 5-12 and about 2 minutes long. Read it free on Masal Merkezi, play a lullaby or nature sound in the background, tap any word to see its Turkish meaning and save it to your favorites. For similar tales browse the Nasreddin Hodja category.
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