1. COMENIUS PROJECT
ESTONIA TURKEY ROMÂNIA BULGARIA
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for
any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
1

2. ROMANIAN FUNNY STORIES
Păcală and Tândală
By Miron Larisa and Manea Irina
4th grade
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
Păcală and Tândală were travelling around the world. One night, they
arrived in a village, but the people were already asleep.
Tândală said:
- We got here too late.
- Do you know what I think? I think we should sleep in the church.
- That’s a good idea.
- But where is the church?
- Over there, in the cemetery!
- Let’s try not to wake up the dead.
- We shouldn’t wake up the people, they must be tired.
When they got in front of the church, they heard some thieves fighting
over some gold coins. Pacala told Tandala what to do. In a coarse voice,
Tandala said:
- Well, we heard that in the church there are some thieves with a sack
of gold.
- And what do you want? We want 100 gold coins for us.
- If you don’t give us the golden coins, we will bury you alive.
The thieves froze at first, and then ran out of the church as fast as they
could.
Pacala and Tandala entered the church took the sack of gold and slept
careless.
2

3. Two brothers
By Filote Patricia
4th grade
Ion Creangă SchooL Iaşi, România
Jim and Tim are two brothers. They are in the summer holiday.
They live in a hotel on the thirteenth floor. The elevator was out of
order and they had to climb the stairs.
Tim told Jim:
- Brother, I want to tell you something!
- Not now! Can you tell me when we get the 30th floor?
They got up.
- What do you want to tell me?
- I forgot the keys at the reception.
- What? I don’t believe you!
- Yes, I did!
They went to the reception.
- Brother, can I tell you something?
- Not now. Tell me when we arrive.
They reached the 30th floor.
- What do you want to tell me?
- I lied to you. I had the keys in my pocket!
- What? I lied to you too! The elevator was OK. I wanted to practise a
little bit of sport.
3

4. The orange juice
By Talpalariu Alexandra
5th grade
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
One day I went to a park. Suddenly a boy came to me. He was selling
some orange juice. It cost fifty pence. After I bought some orange juice the
boy started dancing. He said that was the prize for those who bought some
orange juice.
He was also selling some pineapple, grapefruit and pear juice. I
wanted to see what the prizes for the other juice were. So, I also bought
some grapefruit juice. Next moment ,I was amazed to see how the ordinary
boy became instantly an opera singer.
I was more curious to see the other prizes. So I bought some
pineapple juice.
The next moment the ordinary boy became a clown who was doing
different tricks.
I was very curious to see what the prize for the pear juice was.
“Now it’s your turn to do the following trick”, said the boy laughing.
“What do you mean”, I said.
Well…
The next moment I was running, looking for a men’s room (toilet),
because I was too full.
4

5. The floating mother
By Ivan Denisa
4th B grade
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
Sunny… hot… sand… ice-cream… beaches… sunglasses… sun beds… in
one word the summer holidays.
Last summer, my family and I spent the summer holiday in a
wonderful place called Taormina.
On a sunny day, we went to Isola Bella to sunbathe. There my father
and I started building sand castles. Meanwhile my mother was lying on a
sun bed in the sea.
While my father and I were making some sand castles, my mother
was lying down on a sun bed in the sea.
At a certain moment my father and I decided to do something more
exciting so we rented a boat for water skiing.
It was such an interesting and adventurous experience.
Suddenly, I saw my mother was sleeping and floating at a certain
distance from the shore. It was pretty dangerous because she couldn’t
swim.
I started screaming: Mother, mother, be careful! You are in danger!
When she opened her eyes, she realized she was in great danger.
That moment
we decided to take
her aboard. When we
reached her she was
so happy that she told
us:”You are the angels
sent by God to save
my life!”
We laughed a
lot.
All is well when
ends well.
5

6. An autumn happening
By Plugariu Mădălina
5th grade
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
It was an early autumn day. It was raining heavily. I woke up at 7 a.m.
I had breakfast at 7:15 and went to school at 7:30.
Before getting to the bus stop I slipped on a banana skin and fell.
I couldn’t go to school. That’s why I returned home and changed my
clothes.
I got to school at around 10 o’clock. My desk mate asked me what
happened. I told him I was late because I
couldn’t hear the alarm clock.
He told me how he ate a banana at
the bus stop and left the banana skin on
the ground, hoping a loser would come
and slip on the ground.
I was very furious when I heard that
but I couldn’t tell him that I was the loser
who slipped on his banana skin.
The white wine
By Rusu-Popa Luca
5th grade
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
One morning, when I was nine years old, I woke up very early.
I was a little bit dizzy so I went to the kitchen to drink some water. I
poured some water in a glass from a green bottle. I drank three glasses and
I felt drunk. I smelt the bottle and I felt the smell of wine. I remembered my
father drank some white wine from that bottle in the evening. He told us to
take care not to think there was some water in the green bottle. I forgot and
I drank and I was a little bit drunk.
The world seemed beautiful to me. It was very funny.
6

7. The crazy rabbit
By Agachi Ovidiu Constantin
5th grade
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
One day a rabbit went to the chemist’s and said:”Have you got a cake
with some whipped cream.”
The pharmacist said: ”This is a chemist’s, not a cafe.”
The second day the same rabbit went to the chemist’s and asked for
the same thing:”Please, give me a cake with some whipped cream.”
The pharmacist said the same thing:” Don’t you understand, this is a
chemist’s, not a café.”
Another rabbit came and told the pharmacist: “If the white rabbit
comes and asks a cake with whipped cream, let him buy one.”
The white rabbit came the third day and
asked for the same thing he wanted the first day:
”Have you got a cake with some whipped cream?”
The pharmacist said: ”Here you are some
cakes with lots and lots of whipped cream.”
The rabbit said:”Unbelievable, how quickly
you changed the chemist’s into a café.”
The funny monkey
By Ursu Ştefania
4th B grade
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
Last summer my family and I went to the zoo.
It was so hot that we decided to buy some ice-cream. I
began eating the ice-cream, when suddenly a monkey stole
it. I asked the monkey to give me back the ice-cream, but she
was making all kind of strange noises and nodded her head.
She began eating the ice-cream.
I didn’t know the monkey loved ice-cream so much.
However, now I have a funny picture in the zoo with a monkey licking
my ice-cream with appetite.
7

8. BULGARIAN FUNNY STORIES
MARIANA’S STORY
By Mariyana Sabeva
Georgi Karavelov School, Shivachevo. Bulgaria
One of the funny stories in Romania was when my friend Polina fell in
the lobby of the hotel. She was sitting on the floor while we were taking
pictures.
The other one was when Tanya got lost in the mall. She was with us
and when we entered the next shop, she simply disappeared. We had been
looking for her for almost 30 minutes, and we finally found her with the
boys.
PETER’S STORY
By Petar Milchev
Georgi Karavelov School, Shivachevo, Bulgaria
On the third day of our visit in Estonia we
went to the Youth Club in Kivioli, which was an
amazing place.
Next evening after dinner we had a bit of
spare time and we went there again. Of course,
there were a lot of Estonian kids there and we
had a wonderful time. We did a lot of funny things together - some of us
played air hockey, others swam in the pool. One of the Romanian kids and I
played this dancing game.
This was probably one of the best nights in my life so far. It was
simply amazing and I’ll never forget it.
8

9. RADOSTINA’S STORY
By Radostina Kadireva
Georgi Karavelov School, Shivachevo, Bulgaria
So, we were in Romania, having an afternoon walk to rest and go
sightseeing, when we stopped by this little shop for a snack. We expected
the lady who was selling the snacks to speak at least some English but she
didn’t, so we tried the “waving hands” language but with no success. So the
woman talked to us in
Romanian, we talked
to her in English, and
finally we said to each
other (in Bulgarian)
“There is no use
trying!” Then the lady
said “Just tell me what
you would like” (in
Bulgarian). We felt so
awkward at first, but
five minutes later we
all laughed at that.
TRAIAN’S STORY
– The story about Tanya –
By Trayan Muchev
Georgi Karavelov School, Shivachevo,, Bulgaria
One of the best stories that we had in Romania was with a
Bulgarian girl named Tanya. It was early in the morning .When we woke
up we went to have breakfast, but one of the girls was missing. We went
to her room, but the door was locked from inside. The teachers got
worried. We started knocking on her door and calling her on the phone,
but she didn’t hear it. We called the hotel manager and when he unlocked
the door we went quickly inside. She was sleeping peacefully in her bed.
Everyone calmed down, and went to have their breakfast again.
9

10. THE WRONG WAY
By Trayan Muchev
Georgi Karavelov School, Shivachevo, Bulgaria
This was the day when we went back to Bulgaria .We left Iaşi at 5
o’clock in the morning, but something had happened with our GPS. We
passed 200 km on the right way and after that we got lost. We didn’t
know where we were going, but we drove forward. We should have got
back to Bulgaria across the bridge at Russe, but we actually came home
by the ferryboat in Silistra. It was very funny.
YORDAN’S STORY
By Yordan Denev
Georgi Karavelov School, Shivachevo, Bulgaria
It was on the second day of our visit in Turkey. We were in a town
near Mardin. When we arrived there, they took us to a sightseeing tour.
While we were walking from the centre of the town towards a famous sight,
a member of our group got lost. And guess who he was? Mr Radev, our
principal! We didn’t notice that he was missing. When we arrived at the
sight, we discovered that he wasn’t there. Then one of the Turkish teachers
went to look for him. In about 30 minutes of investigations we discovered
him. We asked him how could it happen that he got lost and where he had
been. He answered quietly that he went to see around the town. And what if
a student had done the same? 
10

11. VALERY’S STORY
By Valeri Balev
Georgi Karavelov School, Shivachevo, Bulgaria
I always smile when I remember the visit in Romania.
For our group and especially for me this trip was one of the most
amazing things in my life. There (in Romania) I met very interesting people
who became my friends. Also, I learned about other cultures (Turkish,
Romanian and even Estonian). Every day with those people was an
adventure. The Romanian hosts made us feel like really special people. They
showed us everything they could in that short time (4 days).
That’s everything that I can say about the tour in Romania that I had
last summer. It was a great experience for me and for everybody else, I
hope... But here is a really funny story about how we actually got there:
Before we left Bulgaria we all knew that we were going to travel by
train. Our teachers bought us tickets to Bucharest but we had to change the
train there, and catch another one to Iaşi.
The confusing situation was when one of the teachers had to go and
buy us tickets from Iaşi to Bucureşti train station, but we arrived there with
some delay. It was very funny – the whole group was running with huge
bags all around the train station! When we got on one of the trains, a
teacher from our group said that it was the wrong train…
Can you imagine fifteen people with about thirty bags running from
train to train, getting on and getting off them, and laughing all the time? 
11

12. ESTONIAN FUNNY STORIES
JUKU is a schoolboy, who doesn’t want to learn much, but he
always found different funny things and he is really smart, clever,
sometimes naughty.
*
Teacher: Is that your ball, Juku?
Juku: Are there any school
windows broken?
Teacher: No, as much as I
know?
Juku: Then it’s my ball.
*
Juku: Father, why banks always have bars in front of the windows?
Father: Because bank managers must get used to them step by step.
*
- Juku, what you did with the money, that I gave you to get you drink
your medicine?
- With 3 kronas I bought
candies and two gave to Priit.
- Why to him?
- To encourage him drink my
medicine instead of me...
*
- Juku, did you change water in the aquarium?
- No, the fish didn’t drink all yet.
*
- Father, why there in the magazine was
written, that this movie is forbidden to children?
- Sit down quietly, you will see soon...
12

13. In 3rd grade there is a Biology lesson. The teacher asks the class:
“Does anyone know why the flounder is flat?”
Juku: Because he slept with a whale.
Teacher: Juku, I will remove you from this class. Go out.
The teacher continues the lesson: „Do you know why crabs have such
bulging eyes? “
The answer comes behind the door: “Because he saw how whale and
the flounder slept together”.
*
Teacher: I hope that I will never see again a crib from other
students’ workbook.
Juku: I hope that too.
*
- Juku, why are you coming so late in lesson?
- Yesterday you told us, that it’s never too late for learning, teacher.
*
Juku is late at school again.
Teacher asking: „Why are you so late, Juku? “
„My mom lost 20 Euros cash note.
Teacher: „And how is it linked with being late? “
Juku: „I stood on that in the kitchen“
*
Juku is calling the airport. „Tell me please,
how long will be the flight from Tallinn to Hamburg
last? “
„One moment, please“
„Thank you for the answer.“
*
Juku is calling at school. „Hello, I’m sorry, but Juku can’t come today at
school. He has very high temperature. “
Teacher: „ Excuse me, who is speaking? “
Juku: „My mom“.
13

14. Juku is standing in the corridor and is trying to call the doorbell. A
polite man, who sees the little boy in trouble, pushes the button of the
doorbell for him. “Thank you”, Juku said. „You’re welcome, boy“.
„Now we have to run quickly, “Juku said. „There lives a terrible
furious lady“.
*
Teacher saw Juku´s socks: „ You have a strange pair of socks, Juku.
One is red and one is blue. “
- Yes, they are, answering Juku. And I have one more pair like this at
home.
*
Juku asks dad: “Please, buy me a drum! “
„No Juku, you will play while I’ll be working and you will disturb me.“
„No Dad, I will only play when you’ll be sleeping.“
*
Juku: „Who will guess rightly how many apples I have in my bag that
will get all those three apples for himself. “
*
Ats and Juku will be late at school. Teacher asks: „Why are you late,
boys? “ Juku answers: „I slept in and Ats waited for me at the corner of the
street “.
*
Again Juku you have bumped your head! I have told you thousand
times, don’t play with bad boys. Why don’t you join the good boys?
But mom, they don’t allow me to play with nice boys...
*
Juku: I have seen such a baby who drinks every day elephant’s milk
and grows every day 12 centimetres.
- Juku, I can’t believe you... What happened with this baby, how big he
grows?
- He became an elephant of course!
*
Father, I saw in dream that you gave me 10 Euros...
You can keep that money, Juku, for sure.
14

15. Funny stories of our students
***
It happened in Bulgaria. In the Estonian group there were 3 girls and
1 boy, so the girls were in one room and Robin got a single room. Robin
warned his teachers, that he sleeps very heavy, but he promised that at
least the phone he could hear. So we left him sleeping and went in our
room.
In the morning we met our teachers at breakfast and they asked
about Robin. But we didn’t hear about him anything. So the teachers went
to knock at his room. His hotel room was on the first floor near the
breakfast room, so we heard them knocking hard, but our teachers came
back and told us that Robin didn’t answer. So they left their room and
started to call him but Robin slept as dead. We heard how the phone was
ringing in his room, but Robin who slept near that phone didn’t hear.
Finally, we called him to the cell phone and then we heard how someone
started moving in the room, he woke up. I never thought that waking up can
be so difficult.
Janika Hansi
X grade
Kiviõli 1 Secondary School, Estonia
***
We spent a nice week in Turkey, but for us local food was totally
different. We ate kebab, baklava, pilaf, a lot of fresh salads, sipping ayran,
tea, Turkish coffee – what was really strong. But we didn’t eat many
potatoes what is the main food in Estonia. So – at the end of the week we
missed our home made food so much that we called at home and ordered
from mom potatoes and sauce. And we agreed that no one even can tell the
word kebab at least one week.
But the first thing that we saw in Riga on our way back home was a
kebab restaurant 
Karolin Urban
12 grade
Kiviõli 1 Secondary School,
Estonia
15

16. ***
It happened in our first project meeting in Bulgaria. In the Estonian
group there were 3 students: Mari-Liis, Kaarel and Elis. Elis is a really nice
girl – tall blond hair, blue eyes, 1.82 cm tall, she also participated at a
modelling job in Italy a year ago. Elis was really a big star. We had in
Shivachevo a very warm welcome. The students waited for us in national
costumes, with bread and salt and local students gave us flowers. We all got
some bunches of flowers, but Elis had all her arms full. She was greeted as a
movie star – little children liked her friendly way and they wanted to take
pictures with her.
Also one Romanian boy – Marius Chichirau liked her very much. He
spent all his pocket money for toys and as he was shy he left them behind
the Elis’ door. Elis didn’t know how to tell him, that there
was no need to do that.
When we had our first project meeting in Estonia
Marius couldn’t come with the Romanian group, so Elis
sent him a small gift – some candies.
Mari-Liis Soomets
XII grade
Kiviõli 1 Secondary School, Estonia
***
It happened with our teachers in Romania. There was a shop named
Billa where our teachers went to do some shopping. They didn’t know the
right way and so they thought that the best way will be to take a taxi. It was
easy to say “Billa” and taxi took them to the right place. Our teachers, Tiina
and Riina had some shopping and they wanted to go back to the hotel, but
they forgot the name of the hotel and also the hotel card was also missing.
Then they started to explain the taxi driver the way back to the hotel. The
driver didn’t understand much and they also didn’t know a better way to
explain. The international words – centre, city government, church – didn’t
help. Finally, the taxi driver called someone who knew a bit of English and
then they explained to him again and again where they wanted to go. The
driver was very patient and helpful, but because the languages were
different they didn’t understand each other. Then the driver just started to
drive and they explained using the body language where they wanted to go.
It was easy to say Billa, but really difficult to explain the way back 
Uku Vernik, XI grade
Kiviõli 1 Secondary School, Estonia
16

17. ***
It happened in Romania. A Romanian teacher was invited at the local
TV morning programme to talk about our project. The TV leaders also
wanted a teacher and a student from different countries to participate. It
was decided, that in that program will participate the Turkish teacher and
me, Rauno – a student from Estonia. Our teachers’ first choice was Kevin,
but he caught a cold and he couldn’t go. So, we agreed to meet at 6.30 in the
morning, but we didn’t agree the place of meeting (or I was a bit nervous
and I didn’t remember). So I woke up and had a quick breakfast and then
started to wait for our local coordinator, Juliana who had to take us to the
TV station. Nobody was there – it was strange, so I went outside and I
started to walk in front of the hotel. Still nobody. In the same time, my
teachers tried to find me – our teacher Tiina looked in my room, then in the
breakfast room, all corridors ... It was already 7 o’clock and then finally we
found each other.
In the studio I couldn’t hear much and I prepared possible answers
about what I might be asked. Then the presenter asked me: „What do you
know about Ion Creangă?“ I understood that they asked me about pretzel
what we had a day before. (in Estonian pretzel is kringel – sounded me
similar). So I answered, that we ate that, it was tasty. I saw how they started
laughing – and I got all red. That moment was terrible – I was humiliated by
myself. But, the presenter explained again and then I understood the
question. But it is funny to remember that story now.
Rauno Palk
11 grade
Kiviõli 1 Secondary School, Estonia
17

18. ***
Our first project meeting was in Bulgaria. It was already the second
half of October. In Estonia that time of the year is quite rainy and cold. So
we had like a second end of summer – the weather was sunny and warm.
And for us the most exciting moment was when our hosts offered us grapes
from their own gardens. We ate a lot of grapes and in the end of the day
they gave us also a half of a plastic bag full with grapes to have with us in
the hotel. We ate them all and we thought that now was enough. We were
full. But it was strange that the next day we again ate them in same amount.
And also in the third and fourth and fifth day... The grapes were so tasty. I
still wonder how many grapes people from northern countries can eat... 
Kaarel Kuurmann
12 grade
Kiviõli 1 Secondary School, Estonia
18

19. ***
In Turkey´s project meeting we had 4 students, our history teacher
Tiina and headmaster, Heidi. We liked warm weather, the interesting
programme, the different culture and the warm welcome at school.
Once we had dinner and we were in good mood, waited in the dining
room for our partners and local coordinators. Suddenly, something made us
laugh and we couldn’t stop. Then started to laugh our teachers and after
several moments all the Estonian group laughed. If we tried to find what we
laughed, we couldn’t – Kadri laughed how teacher Tiina laughed, teacher
Tiina laughed how Kadri laughed and the others laughed how they laughed.
But as we started once, we couldn’t stop... and we laughed at least 10
minutes. I’m sure that the others didn’t understand the reason of our laugh,
but there wasn’t any reason at all. Just the good mood.
Kadri Lahtmaa
12 grade
Kiviõli 1 Secondary School, Estonia
19

20. TURKISH FUNNY STORIES
A funny story happened at the airport
It is a short story about our English teacher, Isman Atay. It was the
time to meet the Bulgarian group at the airport in the morning. I and my
colleague Isman waited the plane to land. Not much later, the plane landed
and our guests started to get out of the airport hall. They didn’t know us but
we could guess them because they looked different from local passengers
So we directly went and tried to help them by approaching to their
luggages. They all looked very tired. The Bulgarian history teacher
misunderstood the help and thought that Isman was trying to steal her
luggages and clenched the luggages and also saying something in Bulgarian,
perhaps asking for help from her colleagues. Sooner, she understood the
situation and calmed down.
Alaadin İNAN
English Teacher
Vatan Primary School, Kiziltepe, Turkey
20

21. Traditional stories1
~ Delicious Stew ~
One day Nasreddin Hodja bought 2 kilograms of meat from the
neighbourhood butcher. He brought the meat home and asked his wife to
cook a real nice stew for dinner.
Thus secured the evening meal, he happily headed off to his field to
work.
Hodja's wife did cook the stew but about lunch time a few of her
friends and relatives came over for a visit. Having nothing else to serve to
her guests, she served the stew. They all ate heartily and finished it all.
Hodja came home after a long day's work and asked his wife if the
stew was ready.
`Ahh, ahh! You have no idea what befell the stew.' his wife said, `The
cat ate it all.'
Nasreddin Hodja, suspicious, looked around and saw the scrawny
little cat in one corner, looking as hungry as himself. Hodja grabbed the cat
and weighed him on his pair of scales. The poor thing weighed exactly two
kilos.
`Woman,' said the Hodja, `if this is the cat, where is the stew? If this is
the stew, then where is the cat?'
1
http://www.readliterature.com/hodjastories.htm
21

22. ~ On the Roof ~
Nasreddin Hodja's old house had a leaking roof. One day the Hodja
decided to fix it. He borrowed a ladder and with great difficulty climbed up
to the roof. Just as he was setting off to work, he heard a knock on the door.
He looked down from the edge of the roof and saw a stranger in front of his
door.
`I am up here.' Hodja shouted. When the man looked up, `What is it
that you want?' he asked him.
`Please come down,' replied the man, `I have something to say to you.'
Hodja precariously descended down the old ladder. Once on the
ground he again asked the man what he wanted.
`Alms,' said the man, `could you spare some alms.'
Hodja thought for a second and then told the man to come up to the
roof with him. Hodja in front, the beggar behind him, both running short on
breath, climbed up the ladder. Once on the roof top, Hodja turned to the
man and said: `I don't have any.'
~ Intermingled ~
The children of the neighbourhood were in the mood for a little
mischief. They sat by the stream and put their feet in the water. When
Nasreddin Hodja was passing by, they cried for help.
`Hodja, Hodja! Please help us.' They were screaming all at once.
`Our feet are all mixed up, we don't know which is which.'
`We cannot go home if we don't find our feet.'
`Come help us figure out which foot belongs to whom!'
Nasreddin Hodja was not going to be outwitted by children.
`Yes, I understand.' he said amiably, `That happens sometimes. But
don't worry, I know a solution.' Then he grabbed a fallen branch and got
into the water himself. He started to lash the kids about the legs. Each child
that felt the brusque touch of the twig, jumped out of the water with a
shriek and ran away.
`A-ha!' The Hodja said, `You see, now you have all found your
respective feet!'
22

23. ~ First Sermon ~
On his first day as the village's imam, Nasreddin Hodja was seated on
the raised bench, preparing to give his sermon. The congregation was quite
anxious to hear what he had to say. But The Hodja didn't really have a
sermon ready.
`Do you know what I am about to tell you today?' he asked.
`No, Hodja Effendi, we don't.' they replied.
`If you don't know what I am going to talk about,' the Hodja said, `then
I have nothing to tell you.' And with that, he got up and left the mosque,
leaving the puzzled people behind him.
The next day, when it was the time of the sermon, Hodja was back on
his seat and the congregation curiously waiting.
`Do you know what I am about to tell you today?' Hodja asked again.
Having learned from the previous day, the people were not about to say `no'
this time. `Yes, Hodja Effendi,' they all shouted, `we know.'
`Well,' said the Hodja, `if you already know what I am going to tell you,
then I don't need to tell it to you!' He got up and left. The people gathered in
the mosque were at a loss.
The third day Hodja came and sat down, and asked his question.
`Do you know what I am about to tell you today?' The congregation
was not going to let Hodja get away this time without giving a sermon.
Some of them replied with `yes, we do' and some of them replied with `no,
we don't.'
`In that case,' said the Hodja, `Those who do know should tell the ones
who do not know.' and slipped out of the mosque.
~ Difficult Case ~
Nasreddin Hodja was named the kadi of Aksehir. One day, two men
with a dispute came to him and asked him to resolve their conflict. The
Hodja listened to the plaintiff first.
`You are right!' he said when the plaintiff completed his account.
Then, the Hodja listened to the defendant.
`You are right!' he said to the defendant as well. Everyone in the room
was perplexed. One of the observers dared to protest.
`Kadi effendi,' he said, `You agreed with both of the parties. The
dispute can't be settled if you say "you are right" to both of them.'
Nasreddin Hodja considered for a moment, then he said: `You are right too!'
23

24. ~ Parrot ~
One day The Hodja was walking around in the market place. He saw a
bright-coloured bird for sale for 12 gold coins. Hodja was amazed. He
approached the crowd gathered around the bird and its seller.
`How can a bird be so expensive?' he asked the people watching the
bird.
`This is a special bird,' they explained, `it can talk like a human being!'
This gave Hodja an idea. He went straight to his home, grabbed his turkey
and brought him to the market place. He stood near the man selling the
parrot.
`Turkey, for sale, ten gold coins!' he yelled.
`Hodja Effendi, how can a turkey be worth ten gold coins?' the
shoppers protested.
`There is a bird there for 12 gold.' insisted the adamant Hodja.
`But Hodja Effendi, that bird can talk like a human being.' the people
tried to reason. But Hodja was unbending.
`And this turkey can think like a human being.' he countered.
24

25. ~ Caught in a Lie ~
One day a neighbour asked Nasreddin Hodja if he could borrow
Hodja's donkey.
`Hodja Effendi, we need a donkey for a few hours. Could I take yours?'
`I would gladly lend you my donkey, my neighbour, 'the Hodja started
his excuse, `but he is not here.'
Just at that moment the donkey's loud and long bray is heard from the
shed.
`Shame on you Hodja Effendi,' said the neighbour, `you are caught in a
lie, your donkey is braying in the shed.'
`My dear fellow,' Nasreddin Hodja was unrepentant, `are you going to
believe the word of a Hodja or are you going to believe a donkey?'
25

26. ROMANIAN COMICS
The Literature class
By Radu Burlacu,
8th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
At the Physics lesson
By Cosmin Liţă,
8th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
26

27. “I speak English”
By Costel Stiharu, 7th grade, Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
27

28. At the Biology class
By Cosmin Liţă,
8th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
At the Chemistry lesson
By Costel Stiharu,
7th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
28

29. Conjugate
By Radu Burlacu,
8th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
The Alphabet
By Radu Burlacu,
8th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
29

30. Tradition
By Mihail Irimia,
6th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
At the confectionery
By Alexandra Chiraculea,
6th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
30

31. Test paper
By Cosmin Borş,
6th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
At the Maths lesson
By Cosmin Borş,
6th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
31

32. The Geography lesson
By Georgiana Gândac
6th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
The Grammar lesson
By Radu Burlacu,
8th grade,
Ion Creangă School, Iaşi, România
32

33. TURKISH COMICS
Caricatures
33

34. 34

35. 35

36. CONTENTS
page
Romanian funny stories ........................................................................................ 2
Bulgarian funny stories .......................................................................................... 8
Estonian funny stories............................................................................................ 13
Turkish funny stories .............................................................................................. 22
Romanian comics ................................................................................................... 27
Turkish comics .......................................................................................................... 33
Coordinated by:
Romanian teachers: Iuliana Asăvoaie
Anca Creţu
Loreta Mahalu
Alina Rotaru
Bulgarian teachers: Vesselina Boneva
Pavlina Dukova
Estonian teachers: Tiina Kilumets
Turkish teachers: Gülşen Varışli
Yılmaz Ekinci
Alaadin İnan
İsman Atay
36