The Mulla, ""variously referred to as very stupid, improbably clever, the possessor of mystical secrets,"" is also variously preempted by different cultures. With good reason. For he is at once unique and universal--the peasant who outwits the king, the man loved by God who passes evil unharmed, the husband of an ugly, nagging wife, who approaches the laws of nature with amazing obtuseness, but also a man of wily wisdom. While the Sufis take favorite stories for intensive study, the common reader Will enjoy the capers of this sly folk hero-holy man for themselves. A random restorative.