THE AWAKENING IN THE MARKET...

Mulla Narsuddin's wife hated his donkey.

 "I don't want that good-for-nothing Ass in my house... Sell him in the market, or dump him in a pond... But, out he must be, before the Sun, tomorrow, goes down," one night, Mulla's wife gave the ultimatum to her husband. 

Mulla, somehow, had a great love for his donkey, though, he too knew that the lazy animal did nothing but, hogging and sleeping, all day long. He still loved his donkey... and, the thought of living without his donkey made him very uncomfortable. So much so, he would live without his wife, but not his donkey!

But then, Mulla had no courage to defy his wife's order. So, the next morning, he took his donkey and proceeded to the market place to sell the animal at the auction. In the evening, when Mulla returned home, his wife was quite relieved to see a very excited man. 

"So?" the lady asked Mulla.

"I am very happy, darling," said an elated Mulla.

"Tell me what happened - did you sell him or did you dump him?" the fed-up lady asked. 

"Of course, I sold him... and for an unbelievable price!" Mulla declared standing on Cloud Nine!

By now, Mulla's wife had calmed down. "Finally," she thought in her mind, "this useless character has done something worthwhile!"

"The auctioneer was fantastic," Mulla told his wife, "He kept praising our donkey... His looks, his health, his voice... Everyone was floored."

"That is all fine, but what happened, then? How much did your 'Golden' Ass fetch?" Mulla's wife wanted it short.

"A man offered Five coins," said Mulla... But, another man quickly said "Ten."

"So, your heavenly Ass fetched Ten! Is that what you are trying to tell?" the wife wanted her husband to come to the point.

"Have patience, my darling; listen to me fully," Mulla went on, "Just before the countdown began, a man jumped and said 'Fifteen'… and, even before this man could close his mouth, another noble soul had Twenty to offer for our divine donkey."

"That means, you got Twenty, in the end? Can I now conclude?" the lady's patience had reached the edge.

"Wait, wait... It is not over. Listen to what happened after that!" Mulla had more to narrate.

"Yes, what happened?" the Begum stood thrusting her both hands on her angry hips.

“Just then, a man came from nowhere and screamed, ‘Twenty-five’! and, I couldn’t believe that!" Mulla was now jumping in the air… “Honey, I couldn’t believe what a goldmine we possessed, and how stupid we had been!”

“So, at Twenty-five, the hammer went down… Now, show me the money!” it was too much for the lady.

Mulla was still jumping and ecstatic… “No, I did not let go my sweet Ass for even that!”

The lady almost fainted!

Before she could recover from the shock, she heard from their courtyard something familiar. She managed to run outside to check. 

Mulla’s beloved Ass was there singing, gloriously: “Ma’am, I am back!”

And, our Mulla was all smiles. With a pride that his Begum had never witnessed before, he gently caressed his supreme possession, and let his nagging wife know what really had happened in the end:

“I did not let my fine Ass go to any stupid asshole… I put Thirty coins and bought it myself!”

Everytime I read this story, I smile. 

Oh, Mulla… Mulla, my darling!

How many times I have taken my ‘useless donkeys’ to the auction... only to get them back home… all inspired by you!

How stupid I had been… Yes,  till my ‘awakening’ in that market place!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Vivek D'Cunha