I have written several times about Nasrudin. Nasrudin is a character in many tales and parables. He lived in the Middle East many hundreds of years ago. Here is another story about Nasrudin. In some stories he was a wise mullah. In others, he played a fool to illustrate a point. Here is another story about Nasrudin.
The emperor Tamerlane was faced with a revolt in a far flung region under his rule. Workers had rioted in one of the cities and murdered their extremely unpopular governor. Tamerlane summoned his greatest military commanders, ordering them to stamp out the revolt immediately.
“Take all the troops you need, ladders to scale the city walls, cannons to blow the city to smithereens, camels and elephants to bring terror to the hearts of every man, woman and child.”
“You have forgotten the most effective weapon to settle the violence, which you must deploy before all others,” whispered Nasrudin into the ear of the emperor.
“Tell me Nasrudin, what is that?”
“One man with the sense to listen to the complaints of the citizens and assume the role of governor.”
Once again, the old stories have parallels in our modern times.
© 2011 Eric Borreson
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