The Final Day of Juha

          Alas, the third section of Tales of Juha more resembled the first section as opposed to the second. That means that this section was not very funny in my humble opinion. I felt that there were also fewer lessons or “truths” to be gained from this section of the reading. For example, while in the Juha the Butt did not entertain me in the least bit, there was a single anecdote that at least elicited a feeble chuckle as I sat in the study room in our fraternity house. The subject of the story was Juha entering a village full of misers, wanting to test the claim that they were as people described them. Upon entering this village he was given a bowl of milk, and Juha was under the impression that the people had been judged wrongly. However, the man only gave Juha the bowl of milk because a mouse had fallen into it. At the very end, when Juha throws the bowl down in anger, the “chuckle moment” arises when the man yells at him “Careful! Don’t break that bowl! It’s the one my daughter uses to piddle in!”

          I found this funny because not only was there a cognitive shift (for the reader as well as Juha) upon discovering WHY the man gave Juha a bowl of milk in a very un-miserly manner, but the reason for giving him the bowl was quite disgusting. But the real kicker was the man’s reaction to the bowl being tossed in anger and disgust. “Hey, my daughter piddles in that bowl!” was the last thing I expected to read. And, while perhaps immature, I find the word “piddle” hilarious, especially when combined with the shock of realizing Juha just drank out of toilet. The fact that this man is so miserly as to use a bowl as a cup and as a toilet is quite off-putting. While this anecdote is relatively funny, however, I fail to see a concrete purpose or lesson to be learned from it. I suppose all I can deduce is that those who are miserly offend people, so refrain from being a miserly person?

            

          One of my favorite types of myth or story is when justice is served. Superheroes always win, the bad guy loses, and hope is not lost completely. Call it cliché, but I like it when the good guy wins. Justice is one of those things that I think everyone wants to believe in and hopes for, but in real life justice is not always given out to those who deserve it: innocent people die, bad things happen to good people, and tragedies always seem to fall hardest on those least able to bear the burden. Because of this we look to stories that, when we control them, end up in a way that we wish our own lives would go. We want to be the hero. We want a healthy portion of lex talionis. So, after that introductory spiel, without further ado I reveal that the Justice and Generosity section of our assignment was probably my favorite section.

          

          The second story (the one about the cook demanding repayment for the use of steam coming off his food) was one of my favorites of this section because of Juha’s succinct, sharp come-back. He made a bag of coins jingle, and said, “You can take the jingling of coins as the price for the flavorsome steam of your cooking.” The next story had a similar purpose and punch-line, as well as the next one after. This last one was probably my favorite of all the passages I read in this assignment. The trickery employed by Juha to teach the claimant’s nonsensical dispute I found hilarious. This story, about the man claiming that he was to be paid for his “nothing,” was brilliantly ended. What was found under the book the claimant lifted?

          “Nothing.”

            

          “Very well. Now, take it and be off with you.”

           

          This clever play on words and mode of revealing justice to someone just making trouble to make trouble made me laugh aloud in triumph.