Death Summary and Analysis

Our common mortality is a common feature of the teaching stories of the Mullah Nasrudin, with its special references and mysteries about what may lay beyond. In 'Why Shouldn't They Mourn' the teaching story relates how the Mullah tied black mourning ribbons to all of his chickens (as they all had reasons to mourn). He does this after he sees a man walking down the street in his mourning garb. The very next day, the man walks up to the funerary poultry and asks the Mullah Nasrudin why the chickens and wearing mourning ribbons, to which he replies 'why not?' This story highlights some of the essential ambiguity about death that we can see in Mullah Nasrudin stories. The Mullah is suggesting that the chickens have just as right to mourn as any man does, as they experience death too...