Juha answered, “No.  They say ‘death chooses the best,’ and I thought Azrael [the angel of death] might see how beautiful you are and take you instead of me.”

The trickster-fool’s moral fiber

Although often we are meant to sympathize with the hero, this is not always the case.  In the next tale, “Juha’s Donkey,” Juha uses his wit to save his life and then cheats the very people he believes responsible for his well-being.  Thus, although he comes across as clever, it is clearly to a fault.

Once upon a time, an old man named Juha fell seriously ill.  Suffering terribly, he feared that he would die.  He promised to reward the poor people of the village if they would agree to pray to God for his recovery.

“I will sell my donkey and distribute the price I get among you,” he said.

The unfortunate people, quite excited at the prospect of this gain, immediately began praying that health would return to their friend.  Evening and morning, the village echoed with their prayers.

Juha recovered.  And once he was back to normal, he began looking for a way to keep his promise without losing a fortune.

Finally, he took his donkey to the market, walking it around and crying, “Who wants to buy my donkey for one franc and my stick for five hundred francs?

… Who will buy them?”

Despite the strangeness of this proposition, some Bedouins came forward to buy the donkey, without the stick.

“No,” objected Juha, “I cannot sell the one without the other.”

Finally, the donkey was sold with the stick for the price Juha asked.  And so he returned home very happy, with the money in his pocket.

“My poor friends,” he said, “unfortunately I have nothing to give you.”