THE BOOK OF NOODLES or Simpletons Fools and Their Follies is a book filled with unique collection of Noodle-tales from around the world.

But what is a Noodle? After a fashion, the typical noodle in popular tales "points a moral". These poor fellows follow their instructions only too literally, and with a firm conviction that they are thus doing a very clever thing. But the consequence is almost always ridiculous. They practically show the fallacy of the old saw that "fools learn by experience," for his next folly is sure to be greater than the last, in spite of every caution to the contrary.

They are generally very honest, and do everything "with the best intentions." Their minds are incapable of entertaining more than one idea at a time; but to that they holds fast, with the tenacity of the lobster's claw: they cannot be diverted from their task until, by some accident, a fresh idea displaces it; and so on they go from one blunder to another. Their blunders, however, which in the case of an ordinary man would infallibly result in disaster to himself or to others, sometimes lead the fools to unexpected good fortune. It is to them the great Persian poet Sádí alludes when he says, "The alchemist died of grief and distress, while the blockhead found a treasure under a ruin." Men of intelligence toil painfully to acquire a mere "livelihood" but the noodle stumbles upon great wealth in the midst of his wildest vagaries. In brief, they are, in stories, at least--a standing illustration of the "vanity of human life"!

So, enjoy this collection of Noodle-tales brought together by W A Clouston, from widely scattered sources. While this book may bring you enjoyment and occasional bouts of mirth, its purchase will also benefit someone somewhere, for 10% of the publisher’s profit will be donated to charity.

TAGS: book of noodles, moral tales, simpletons, fools, folly, idiots, luck of the Irish, ancient Greece, Gotham, gothamite, drolls, drolleries, variants, analogues, silly son, four Brahmans, first Brahman, second Brahman, third Brahman, fourth Brahman, conclusion, three great noodles, fool of Hereford, fool of Huntington, blunders, task driven, accidents, blockhead, treasure, foolish, honest, thought process, ideas,