155. Nasruddin’s Inshallah
“I’m going to buy a new donkey tomorrow,” declared Nasruddin.
His wife rebuked him. “You should say ‘Insh’allah!’”
But Nasruddin was feeling self-confident and refused to say “God-willing.”
The next day he bought his donkey.
“I’m doing fine on my own!” he thought to himself.
But on the way home, a snake startled the donkey.
The donkey bolted, throwing Nasruddin into the brambles.
Nasruddin was scratched, his clothes were torn, and his donkey was gone.
It was dark when Nasruddin got home.
He knocked at the door.
“Who is it?” his wife asked.
“Nasruddin!” he replied. Then he added, “Insh’allah!”
This Tale is from “Tiny Tales of Nasruddin” by Laura Gibbs. The book is licensed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. © 2019-202The2 Laura Gibbs
The Tattooer is the first published work by Junichiro Tanizaki, one of the major authors in the modern Japanese tradition. In the story, a tattoo artist inscribes a giant spider on the body of a beautiful young woman. The story foreshadows many of the archetypes which reappear in many of Tanizaki’s later works. — Book promo @ goodreads.com