The "Oriental stories" by the Greek author Philindas Menos, are short humorous stories published in 1931.
![The image is the cover of a book "Oriental stories". Title: "Oriental stories" [Ανατολίτικες Ιστορίες] Author: Menos Philindas [Μένος Φιλήντας] Publisher: “FLAMMA” [ΦΛΑΜΜΑ] Year: 1931 The cover features bold letters for the title, vertical black bars, and a stamp saying University of Crete [Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης] to mark ownership of the specific copy.](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij9LbL05-OcQRhZcQWlf7xgT6OejgzQT-GlAxnnOSyPQs5CG6UwuDQ16ens4D4ayKNlm47dkqpmh6f9mwAPzAaMsaf6T0RmjAVMvbnuW_VZdqUNaaSlD1tD-0ECy-ItVKeYR-FpxqSbc8HOHH6WUFek5UMOWJwcR27qc6dTAVmWRuWN9bwLux-ngFlM8BN/s862/%CE%91%CE%9D%CE%91%CE%A4%CE%9F%CE%9B%CE%99%CE%A4%CE%99%CE%9A%CE%95%CE%A3%20%CE%99%CE%A3%CE%A4%CE%9F%CE%A1%CE%99%CE%95%CE%A3.png "\"Oriental stories\" [Ανατολίτικες Ιστορίες]")
Philindas Menos writes at his introductory note that that they are stories he heard at different times and from various people, living in the Eastern countries, which he collected and finally published in this small book called "Oriental stories".
You will find that some of them have a resemblance to the well - known stories of another eastern character of the facetious stories, that of Nasreddin
Now, I've narrated this story in Greek and you can listen to it below but here is the transcript, as I have translated this humorous story in English:
Title: SULTAN AZIZ - ALI PASHA
The Story: The great Visier
Ali - Pasha was born on the same day as Sultan Aziz, except the Visier had been
born four hours earlier than the Sultan.
This, they
both knew, but was also common knowledge among the people of the palace.
One day the
Sultan, putting Ali's wit to the test, asked him in public:
- Which of
us is greater, Pasha?
He did not say
"of greater age" on purpose, you see.
Now, if the
Visier answered: "I", he would go wrong, for it was not fitting to
tell a Sultan that his vizier was greater, which might mean superior.
If again he
said to the Sultan: "You", he would look like a lackey, and that he
didn’t want nor did the Sultan expect from the famous Ali Pasha.
So he got
out of his predicament with a clever response:
- Your
Majesty, he said, I did at my birth what I always do for you. I hastened to
greet you.
(Translated in English by Naya Nomikou, on 11 of March 2023)
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If you wish you can listen to the story in Greek. Turn on the subtitles feature and choose English.