Hoja's Strange Ways

[Music] [Music] To make a moving picture, you need a camera, some film, and something to take a picture of. Our camera shows the familiar streets of a nearby town. And slow foot, get your head out of the picture. And across the village square is a coffee house where an old shake often retells the beloved stories of Naseradin Hocha. So, our donkey is very happy to see us again. That is happy enough. Come along, Slowfoot. The shake will be [Music] waiting. What's this? Oh, it's that lazy young radical, Hamid. Someday I'll blow up that place. What's wrong now, Hamid? I was just telling the waiter how rotten his coffee is. You'll never learn to get along with people, will you? It's a free country, isn't it? If they don't keep you locked up, it must be. Well, I hope that fell keeps out of our way while the shake tells of Nasuredin Hocha. [Music] Quiet. Stop the music. It's nothing but noise. Amid, have you no manners? Have they? Nothing but that strange music. It happens to be American music. Ah, no wonder it's bad. Do you condemn everything foreign amid? Yes, I do. If it's strange, it doesn't make sense. But Hamid, what about our economic cooperation with other nations? Nobody helps you for nothing in this world. Hamid, haven't you been taught anything but bitterness? I've been taught not to trust Westerners. They dress differently. Their music is different. How can you trust them? I guess no one is perfect except Harid and his friends. Foreign people with their strange ways can't be any good. You can't understand them. You're not trying to. Amid has not yet learned that different people have their own ways of doing good. Even if those ways seem strange to us. Now let the musicians go on playing. You know this reminds me of a story of Naseradin Hocha which will show you what I mean. [Music] centuries ago. When the conquering emperor Tamarlain came to rule, he sent messengers to all corners of the land with a royal order that every village must choose a wise man to be the local judge. But if the emperor did not approve their choice, then a military governor would be sent to rule the village. Choose a wise judge or suffer military [Music] rule. This was a problem. Where in their little village could they find a man wise enough to be a judge and fool enough to face the emperor? The only man they could think of was Nasuredin Hocha, who did everything in his own strange but wise way. Perhaps the Hocha would be just the man to go before the Emperor Tamille. [Music] Heat. Heat. The emperor naturally wanted proof of every man's wisdom and so he demanded that Naseredin Hocha read from his book of law. But because Tamarlain was a foreigner, his laws were written in a foreign tongue. [Laughter] How the emperor laughed at the puzzled Hocha. You are no wiser than the others. My gentle officers will have to rule your village. At this threat, the Hoer summoned the last of his courage. Not only can I read your good laws, Sia, but I can even teach my donkey to read them. Give me the book and one week's time, S. That is all I ask to prove my wisdom. Now the emperor was puzzled. If you can do such a thing, I will admit you are not a fool. But one week is all you get. [Music] When news of this bargain reached the palace gate, the Hocha's friends became more worried than ever. They understood that Nasodine did things in his own strange way. But this time, how could a donkey read? [Music] At last the week was up and Tamuain commanded, "Let the donkey read. [Music] [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] It didn't seem possible. Little did the emperor guess that Nasered had hidden grains of barley between the pages. A strange way indeed, but it did look as though the donkey was reading. And so Tamarlain had to approve Naseredine as judge of his village. But he dismissed the Hocha with a warning. It is harder for a wise man to remain wise than for a fool to be a fool. And if I ever catch you doing a foolish act, it will be your last. [Music] Now the emperor's guard had heard many stories of the Hocha's strange ways. And when he told them to his master, Tamarlain decided it would be wise to follow the Hocha and watch him closely. So, Hocher, you claim to be a wise man and you ride your donkey backwards. That is the way of a fool. But this time, the Hocher was not afraid. Sia, if I rode my donkey forward, my back would always be to my friends. [Music] This way I can travel and talk to them at the same time. I am certain that you will understand this since my donkey does. And with a wisdom that came from understanding, the emperor agreed that although the Hocher did things in his own way, they made very good sense indeed. And still the lesson remains for us. People have their own ways of doing things. And though the ways may seem strange to us, when we try to understand, they make good sense. Nasered knew this. I wonder if we do. [Music]