Class 6 Mullah Nasruddin and the Nail

MULLAH NASRUDDIN and the Nail

EX A 1.

Q1.

A1.Mullah Nasruddin was a local priest in a small village.

Q2.

A2.No one knew whether he was crazy or a sage because of his strange activities.He was deeply involved in spiritual pursuits and material comforts occupied a secondary place in his life.

Q3.

A3.Debts accumulated , and he ran out of credit.Eventually he had to sell his ancestral house.

Q4.

A4.Nasruddin added the clause that he should be allowed to keep the ownership of the nail on the wall of the living room and do whatever he wanted to do with it.

Q5.

A5.The neighbour convinced his wife that since they are getting the house for half its value there was no harm in allowing Nasruddin to keep the nail.As he only wanted to worship it.

Q6.

A 6.She was angry because Nasruddin kept returning to worship the nail.The first time he hung his turban,then his scarf,then coat and ultimately brought the sack full of cow dung to hang.Obviously the wife was furious with her husband.She threatened to leave him.

Q7.

A7.The neighbour felt that Nasruddin had crossed his limits.So he called for a meeting of the council of elders.The assembly of wise men studied the contract between him and Nasruddin.They found nothing wrong with what Nasruddin had done and eventually dismissed the case.The neighbour lost the case.

Q8.

A8.The neighbour's wife refused to allow Mullah to continue worshipping the nail in spite of the wise men's verdict.There were long arguments between the husband and wife

.Finally the neighbour asked Mullah to buy his house back at a bargain price.Nasruddin happily agreed and moved back into his house.
 

EX A2.

1.

a)The object being referred to here is the nail sticking out of the wall of the living room of Nasruddin's house.

b)His father had a massive heart attack and died before he could complete hammering the nail in.

c)The speaker is selling his ancestral house at half price to his crafty neighbour.He wants to teach him a lesson.So he makes up this story about the nail.He obviously has some plan in his mind.

2.

a)The neighbour's wife says this to her husband.

b)Nasruddin was taking advantage of the little clause in the contract by coming back to their house to worship the nail.

 

3.

a)The neighbour says this to Mullah.

b)The listener had brought in a sack of cow dung.Seeing him drag it in ,the neighbour's wife was furious and threatened to leave her husband.

c)The listener went on to hang the cow dung on his nail.