Fool or trickster

Juha can take the role of villain.  In other situations, however, we find him a more sympathetic character.  For instance, in “Juha’s Contract,” he once again makes a contract and adheres to it in letter if not in spirit.  This time, however, he appears sillier and far less sinister than in the previous story.  The humor here relies not just on Juha’s foolishness, but also on his incorrect—if literally accurate—understanding of language.

There once was a farmer who had a farm.  He needed a field hand.  One day Juha was passing by and met the farmer.

“Hey! Hello, Juha, do you want to work here?’

“Well, how much will you pay me?” asked Juha.

“I’ll feed you, I’ll house you, and I’ll clothe you,” said the farmer.

Juha accepted, and they signed a contract.

That evening, Juha ate his dinner and went to bed.  The next day, at ten o’clock, he still hadn’t gotten up.  The farmer, angry, came to him and said, “Hey, Juha! Are you crazy?  How late do you plan to stay there in your bed?”

Juha replied, “I don’t know which of us is crazy.  I drank, I ate, I’m in bed, and I’m waiting for you to put my clothes on just as it says in the contract!”

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On other occasions, Juha fools, or attempts to fool, his listeners by implying something that isn’t really what he means.  We might take a lesson in hasty conclusions from the next story, “Juha’s Stolen Donkey.”

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Juha had a donkey.

One day he left the donkey out in the pasture, and it was stolen.