The Laughable Stories Collected by Mar Gregory John

STORIES OF CLOWNS AND SIMPLETONS. 1 53
DCVIII. Another simple man, when he saw his crop
lying flat before the violent wind and hail, looked up
to heaven and said, *'0 Lord, Thou commandest the
"children of men neither to do evil nor to do harm
"to each other, but what sayest Thou to this work of
"Thine? But who can judge Thee because Thy deeds
"do not correspond to Thy words?"
DCIX. Another fool had a son who had put his
head outside the window and a hailstone fell upon it,
whereupon he cursed him that had struck him. Then
his father struck him and putting his own head out of
the window looked up to heaven and said, "O my
"Lord, blame him not, for as yet he knoweth Thee not."
DCX. Another simpleton, whilst washing his hands,
said, 'I have tried my hands, and if I were to wash
"them a thousand times they would not be clean, unless
"I washed them twice."
DCXI. Another silly man went to visit a man whose
son was dead, and he began to say, "Blessed be God;
"I thank God for His goodness." And the people who
were there present began to rebuke him, saying, "Why
"speakest thou in this manner?" He replied, "Because
"I heard that some one belonging to him was dead,
"and since it is his son there is no [cause for] trouble,
"for so long as he liveth he will be able to beget one
"son after the other."
DCXII. Another fool went to a grammarian that he
might teach him to speak correctly, and when he had
read with him for nigh upon a year, he asked 'the
grammarian, "Do I pronounce siisya with a tsadhe or
"with a semkathl''''
^ I. e., the fool could not distinguish between the sounds of s
and ts after nearly a year's study.