The Loan of a Cooking Pot

kha-yuma malla Nasraden berrekhshele beshkalele kusarta dena men-shvavu. marele halli kha-dana kusarta bayyen bashlen gavo bushala. kusarta gurta letli. beshkalole mayole kusarta bushala bashulele, labulole, yavole medre ka shvava. ina tre kusaryay-sure mattuyel gavo.

One day mullah Nasradin goes and takes a cooking pot as a loan from his neighbour. He says ‘Give me a pot, I want to cook stew in it. I do not have a big pot.’ He takes the pot and brings it back, cooks stew, takes it and gives it back to the neighbour, but he puts two pots in it.

shvava marele aha tre kusaryate kam muyyevet? merre kusartet diyyukh della tre khine menno. yavel katu avet basima, bitayele.

The neighbour says ‘This is two pots, why have you brought them?’ He said ‘Your pot has given birth, to two others.’ He gives this to him ‘Thank you’ and comes back.

e-shabta khita malla Nasraden berrekhshel medre. marele makhleta, kha-kusarta bush-gurta byayeven. malla Nasraden aynu pelteva al-kha-kusartet shvave. naksha grisheva bayyiva ay mayyivala ka-de kusartu yuvvale tre-khineda sure menno. kheshle merre byayen kha-kusarta gurta, kat etli arkhe bashlen khurrak gavo.

The next week mullah Nasradin goes again. He say ‘Excuse me, I want a bigger pot.’ The eye of mullah Nasradin had fallen on one of the pots of the neighbour. He had made a plan, since he wanted to bring back that one. For that (reason) he gave his pot as well as two others with it. He went and said ‘I want a bigger pot to cook food in—I have guests.’

yavole e-kusarta bush-shaperta gurta ka malla Nasraden. malla Nasraden mayole mattuyole beta. shvava bekhzayele kha-yuma, tre-yume, kha-shabta, tre-shabay, kha-yarkha, tre-yarkhe kusarta liten. ba-dakh vila a-kusarta? mu vila kusarta?

He gives the biggest and most beautiful pot to mullah Nasradin. Mullah Nasradin brings it back and puts it in the house. The neighbour sees that one day, two days, one week, two weeks, one month, two months (pass) but there is no pot. ‘But what has become of the pot? What has become of the pot?’

berrekhshele al-tarret malla, mara malla t-avet basima kusarta muyy-ovet aten kma-dana kam adiyya, bayyenna. mut kusarta? merre kusarta at-muyyalukh m-keslan kat-bashletva khurrak gavo. a merre, kusarta, kusarta metla. merre ba-dakh k-oya metla?! merre bas-dakh k-oya kusarta yadla?!

He goes to the door of the mullah and says ‘Mullah, if you please, I want a pot that you took some time ago.’ ‘What pot?’ He said ‘A pot that you took from me to use to cook food in.’ He said ‘Ah, the pot, the pot has died.’ He said ‘How could it have died?!’ He said ‘How could a pot give birth?!’