Tales of Juha, Part 1

     I found the beginning of the Tales of Juha very interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading the Wit and Wisdom chapter. Although I found myself confused by some parts and thoroughly enjoying others, I found it neat to learn more about a culture so different from my own.

     The parts I felt confused by were stories that just didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t get the wit or wisdom behind them, which probably has to do with the fact that I didn’t grow up in the Juha culture. By this I mean that I wasn’t raised to understand sayings like some of those presented here, just like somebody else may not have been raised to understand sayings like “cut the mustard.”

     An example of a story I didn’t understand was the story about the shepherd asking Juha what happens to old moons. Juha answered that they were stored until winter and then they’re pounded into thin strips to make lightning. The shepherd found this the best answer he’d heard all day. I didn’t understand this because I wasn’t sure if the Arab culture actually had an old wives tale that lightning was made from old moons or if this story was just trying to satirize Juha’s wisdom.

     The parts I particularly enjoyed in the Wit and Wisdom chapter were stories that I felt translated across cultural lines. These stories were clever and could be easily understood to be witty by anybody, I feel. An example of this is the very first tale of Juha offered in the book: the story about lawyer Juha defending his client in a courtroom. Juha wins the case because he comes up with a ridiculous excuse story analogous to the case on trial. The judge didn’t think the excuse story made sense, and when he drew the connections between the excuse and the trial on hand, he realized he had to rule in favor of Juha’s client.

     I found this story particularly interesting because I feel like it’s a common story all people are told at least once in their lives. These stories may not all have the courtroom or law aspect to it, but they are used to teach people morals and critical thinking skills. This story left me with a smile, not only because I find witty things particularly humorous, but also because it’s a feel-good story. The right thing ends up happening in the end.

     Overall, even though I was confused by some parts of the first Juha reading assignment, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed thinking about the things that confused me and trying to decide the meanings of stories like moon and lightning tale. I also just enjoyed reading witty things in general, and discovering that Juha is a character that appears in all cultures, even if he doesn’t have the same name.