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I love this sort of post.<br>
<br>
That he is punished in the place of another, Molah Nadan is a Christ
figure.<br>
<br>
<br>
On 10/22/2010 5:55 PM, Dave Tallman wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:AANLkTi=cBU7SDugw48mNs_mYjg-uCYY39wBN4x+5a9f-@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">James Morier's <a moz-do-not-send="true"
class="urllink" href="http://hajji.netfirms.com/index.html"
rel="nofollow">Hajji Baba of Ispahan, The Adventures of Hajji
Baba</a> is a famous book that may be a source Wolfe drew on for
ideas and character names in "Seven American Nights". This book
was written in the 1800's and details the picaresque adventures of
Hajji Baba, a barber. It features characters named the Mollah
Nadan, Mirza Amak, and Osman Aga. Credit for this find goes to <span
class="wikiword">JazzCat</span>, a poster on http;//<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://usefulphrases.yuku.com">usefulphrases.yuku.com</a>
(It's interesting that in this work the name Nadan is given to a
religious leader, a mullah).<br>
<br>
According to Robert Borski's posting on <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://urth.net">urth.net</a>:<br>
<br>
While seeming a plausible Arab name, "Nadan," in fact, is
something you<br>
would be ill-mannered in calling anyone. In Farsi it means
"stupid, idiot;"<br>
therefore, by extension, the same thing that 'cretin' does.<br>
<br>
With the discovery of "The Adventures of Hajji Baba" that claim
about Nadan's name is partially invalidated. In translation,
"Hadjji Baba" is a well-known work of Persian literature, and any
name drawn from it would be a reasonable name for a child. In the
printed text of the English version of the book (available online
through Google books), the name shows up as "Molah
Nadân". According to <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.khamush.com/persian/rubaie236.htm">http://www.khamush.com/persian/rubaie236.htm</a>,
"Nadân-ám" means "I cannot."<br>
<br>
I'm becoming convinced that Wolfe read this book as part of his
background research for the story and picked that name
deliberately. Molah Nadan changes clothing with the narrator and
ends up being punished for a crime in his place. A Christ figure,
perhaps?<br>
<br>
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