[Discussion] Franklin-Nasreddin

[hpaksoy@ttacs.ttu.edu]

The following is published in TexasTechSan, March/April=20
2002, Volume 55, No. 2.  Pp. 15.

Benjamin Franklin and Nasreddin of Asia Minor
H.B. Paksoy, D. Phil.

[The following is an excerpt from the Introduction to=20
the book entitled The Bald Boy and the Most Beautiful=20
Girl in the World, currently being prepared by Paksoy=20
for publication]
=20
All folk archetypes are created by people from the=20
intellectual wealth of their environment and the=20
process may be akin to crystals forming in nature. =20
Upon a seed character, structurally kindred layers may=20
be deposited, over time, to enlarge the entity until it=20
reaches the heights of international renown.   Two=20
examples are Benjamin Franklin (d. 1790) of=20
Philadelphia,  and Nasreddin (d. 1261) of Asia Minor. =20
These archetypes transmit their teaching to future=20
generations through didactic stories.   One such story=20
may serve us for instructional purposes:
"Nasreddin and his son were traveling towards a market=20
town, with an ass which they had to sell.  The road was=20
bad, and the old man therefore rode, but the son went=20
afoot.  The first passenger they met asked Nasreddin if=20
he was not ashamed to ride by himself and suffer the=20
poor lad to wade along through the mire; this induced=20
him to take up his son behind him.  He had not traveled=20
far when he met others, who said they were two=20
unmerciful lubbers to get both on the back of that poor=20
ass, in such a deep road.  Upon this the old man gets=20
off and let his son ride alone.  The next they met=20
called the lad a graceless, rascally young jacka-naphs=20
to ride in that manner through the dirt while his aged=20
father trudged along on foot.  And they said, the old=20
man was a fool for suffering it.  He then bid his son=20
come down and walk with him, and they traveled on=20
leading the ass by the halter;  till they met another=20
company, who called them a couple of senseless=20
blockheads for going both on foot in such a dirty way=20
when they had an empty ass with them, which they might=20
ride upon.  The old man could bear no longer.  My son,=20
it grieves me such that we cannot please all these=20
people.  Let us throw the ass over the next bridge, and=20
be no further troubled with him."=20
This is the story I collected some years before sitting=20
down to compose this Introduction.  Except the=20
narration above belongs to Benjamin Franklin, and he=20
does not use Nasreddin's name (he calls the primary=20
character, 'Old Man').  The story appears here as=20
Franklin published it in his Pennsylvania Gazette (c.=20
1731), in his own defense that a man cannot possibly=20
appease everyone. [1]   Now, how did Franklin know=20
about this Nasreddin story?   Or, is it not a Nasreddin=20
story at all, created by Franklin, translated from=20
English, crossed the Atlantic, arrived in Asia Minor=20
and shouldered Nasreddin's mantle?   Or, can there be=20
other possibilities?=20
In June 1731, Franklin published the well-
known "Apology for Printers" in his Pennsylvania=20
Gazette:
"=85.Hence arises the peculiar unhappiness of that=20
business, which other callings are no way liable to;=20
they who follow printing very scarce able to do only=20
thing in their way of getting a living which shall not=20
probably give offence to some, and perhaps to many,=20
whereas the smith, the shoemaker, the carpenter, or the=20
man of any other trade may work indifferently for=20
people of all persuasions without offending them, any=20
of them; and the merchant may buy and sell with Jews,=20
Turks, heretics and infidels of all sorts, and get=20
money by every one of them, without giving offence to=20
the most orthodox=85." [2]
Apparently, Franklin knew more than he disclosed.  For=20
example, on another occasion, when Franklin was working=20
to establish the "New House" in Philadelphia for the=20
purpose of taking care of disenfranchised, itinerant or=20
newly arrived preachers, he is said to have stated:
"If the mufti of Constantinople were to send a=20
missionary to preach=20
Mahometanism (sic) to us he would find a pulpit at his=20
service=85" [3]  (After recording this quotation, Brands=20
adds: 'for all the uproar the Great Awakening caused=20
among Protestants, they retained sufficient composure=20
to band together against such irretrievably lost souls=20
as Moslems, Catholics and Jews')
So, Franklin was acquainted with the lay of the land in=20
Asia Minor.  Did his stay in London, a city in close=20
commercial and diplomatic relations with the Ottoman=20
port cities, especially Istanbul and Izmir, help him=20
acquire his information?  Franklin must have either had=20
amassed quite a bit of information, or had easy access=20
to it, both from the books he personally owned, and=20
through the Library Company he pioneered in=20
Philadelphia.  Franklin began drawing on all that=20
accumulated information when he began the Poor=20
Richard's Almanack.   Brands again observes:
"Every Almanack offered  pearls of wisdom on personal=20
conduct and related matters of daily life, that the=20
pearls had been retrieved from other oysters bothered=20
no one except perhaps the owners of those other=20
oysters, who in any event had no recourse in the=20
absence of applicable copyright laws.  The trick for=20
writers like Franklin was to polish the pearls and set=20
them distinctively." [4]  The reader may decide.
Nasreddin's didactic messages, in the disguise of=20
tales, moved far and wide over time and space.  In=20
fact, his name and teachings are familiar bright spots=20
in many geographic and cultural terrains, stretching=20
from the Mediterranean into the Eastern reaches of the=20
Asian Continent.  Even Mark Twain was moved to include=20
an episode from Nasreddin in one of his volumes, which=20
he encountered on one of his own peregrinations. [5]
	Until rather recently, Nasreddin has been=20
treated solely as an oral literature archetype, a=20
creation of the collective minds of the Turkish=20
heritage.  On the other hand, information harvested=20
from the 13th century literary sources for the past=20
couple of decades tell a different kind of tale, that=20
Nasreddin was a real person. =20
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	Perhaps we have much more to learn about the=20
world and ourselves.
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