Ulrich Marzolph SANITIZING HUMOR ISLAMIC MEDITERRANEAN JOCULAR TRADITION IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE J ohannes Pauli, the German author of the popular moralizing chapbook of funny and serious stories Schimpf und Ernst, in 1522 narrates the following story: 1 Once upon a time it rained and all those whom the rain touched became like children and fools, behaving childishly and foolishly. It so happened that a wise man passed and no- ticed that even grown-up people behaved so foolishly as to go around naked and ride on their hobby-horses, and in his mind he judged them to be fools. They also thought him to be a fool, laughed about him, made fun of him, and clapped their hands in wonder. He asked them how it had happened that they had become fools. They told him, saying, "It rained, and whoever was touched by the rain was forced to act like a child and do foolish things." The wise man then asked them whether there still was any of the rainwater to be found. One of the fools said, "No," but another one spoke up, ''Yes, the puddle over there holds some of that particular rainwater." So the wise man laid down on the ground, forced his mouth into the puddle and drank from it, and after that he took some water from the puddle, wetted his head and washed himself *This essay was originally presented at an Istanbul conference organized by the European Science Foundation in July, 1998. I would like to thank the organizers for having had the opportunity to participate in wotkshop 5, "Images and representa- tions", of the program on "Individual and Society in the Mediterranean Muslim World". 1 Johannes Pauli 1972, no. 34