Nasreddin Hodja: Hitting the Target

Story

The story of a wise fool who finds a way to always hit the bullseye.

Why we chose it

The story was one of the stories in The Story Museum’s original audio story collection. These stories are particularly suitable for learning to retell.

Where it came from

Nasreddin Hodja is a 13^th century character. Like many folk story heroes he may have been based on a historical person or he may have been a purely imaginary character. The original stories probably came from Anatolia but the character Nasreddin Hodja has lasted for centuries and new stories have been added over the years expanding the collection. The stories were spread orally throughout the Ottoman Empire and wherever he goes Nasreddin is known for his wit, humour and the brevity of his anecdotes.

Where it went next

The stories travelled to Persia, Arabia and Africa and along the Silk Roads to China and India.

Associated stories

There are many stories of Nasreddin and they are still told around the world today. In pictures he is often shown riding his donkey backwards – an image from one of his best known stories. There are statues of Nasreddin backwards on the donkey in Ankara, Turkey and Bukhara, Uzbekistan.