Lessons 16–17 · 2 lessons · Q. Yo‘ldoshev, V. Qodirov, J. Yo‘ldoshbekov. Literature: textbook for Grade 9 of general secondary schools. Revised and expanded 4th edition. “O‘zbekiston” NMIU, Tashkent, 2019
17
Khoja’s hikoyats (tales)
Textbook: pp. 90–94
GoalRetell Khoja’s four tales (the just king and the ascetic, Iskandar and Doro, Solomon and the fly, the shipwreck) in your own words and explain their meaning.
In the first tale a just king wants to buy the reward of the pilgrims, but an ascetic who has gone to the Kaaba on foot twenty times asks in exchange for the reward of one hour of the king’s justice and calls it greater than the worship of people and angels. In the second, Iskandar, unable to defeat Doro, the lord of Hamadan, tempts two close slaves of Doro with the promise of “a high place in the army”; after they kill Doro, Iskandar buries him with honour, has the slaves hanged and says this is the “high place”. In the third a fly complains to Solomon about the wind; when the wind is called the fly flees, and Solomon says justice requires the claimant and the accused to be heard together; then a ghazal urges rulers to be as just as Solomon. In the fourth, a man saved from a shipwreck is made king by the townspeople, and on the fourth day he sees a beautiful woman in the harem; she tells him they make a stranger king for one year and then send him to an island. He has a palace and city built on the island and sends his wealth ahead, and at year’s end lives there in comfort.
Worked examples
Example: in the second tale Iskandar keeps his word literally and gives the traitor slaves a gallows as their “high place”. He says that those who betrayed the master who raised them would not honour a new master either. The textbook leaves it to students to discuss whether this punishment is just.
Example: the fourth tale is symbolic: the year of kingship can be read as a person’s temporary life in this world, and the city built on the island with wealth sent ahead as good deeds gathered for the life to come. Then the tale calls for wise preparation.
Class activity
Divide the four tales among four groups; each retells its tale in one minute and names its theme in one word (“justice”, “honour”, “fair hearing”, “preparation”).
Practice
1
In the first tale what did the ascetic ask from the king instead of money?
The reward of one hour of his justice, in exchange for the reward of his twenty pilgrimages.
2
What did Iskandar do to the slaves who killed Doro, and why?
He had them hanged because they had betrayed their master; Doro he buried with honour.
3
What rule of justice follows from the tale of Solomon and the fly?
The claimant and the accused must be heard together.
4
What might the year of kingship and the island in the fourth tale mean? Justify your view.
The year of kingship is temporary life in this world and the city built ahead on the island is good deeds gathered for the next life; this reading fits the tale’s symbolism.