Told in the Coffee House

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By Listen TheBook Posted on May 31, 2023

In Category - Short Stories

Authors: Cyrus Adler, Allan Ramsay In Year : 1898

Book Language: English

Audiobook: Told in the Coffee House

Preface
How the Hodja Saved Allah
Better is the Folly of Woman than the Wisdom of Man
The Hanoum and the Unjust Cadi
What Happened to Hadji, a Merchant of the Bezestan
How the Junkman Travelled to Find Treasure in his own Yard
How Chapkin Halid Became Chief Detective
How Cobbler Ahmet Became the Chief Astrologer
The Wise Son of Ali Pasha
The Merciful Khan
King Kara-Kush of Bithynia
The Prayer-Rug and the Dishonest Steward
The Goose, the Eye, the Daughter, and the Arm
The Forty Wise Men
How the Priest Knew that it Would Snow
Who was the Thirteenth Son?
Paradise Sold by the Yard
Jew Turned Turk
The Metamorphosis
The Calif Omar
Kalaidji Avram of Balata
How Mehmet Ali Pasha of Egypt Administered Justice
How the Farmer Learned to Cure his Wife
The Language of Birds
The Swallow's Advice
We Know not What the Dawn May Bring Forth
Old Men Made Young
The Bribe
How the Devil Lost His Wager
The Effects of Raki

In the course of a number of visits to Constantinople, I became much interested in the tales that are told in the coffee houses. These are usually little more than rooms, with walls made of small panes of glass. The furniture consists of a tripod with a contrivance for holding the kettle, and a fire to keep the coffee boiling. A carpeted bench traverses the entire length of the room. This is occupied by turbaned Turks, their legs folded under them, smoking nargilehs or chibooks or cigarettes, and sipping coffee. A few will be engaged in a game of backgammon, but the majority enter into conversation, at first only in syllables, which gradually gives rise to a general discussion. Finally, some sage of the neighborhood comes in, and the company appeals to him to settle the point at issue. This he usually does by telling a story to illustrate his opinion. Some of the stories told on these occasions are adaptations of those already known in Arabic and Persian literature, but the Turkish mind gives them a new setting and a peculiar philosophy. They are characteristic of the habits, customs, and methods of thought of the people, and for this reason seem worthy of preservation. - Summary by Preface