Adnan's Bull

23 May 07
Adnan is from Basrah but was stationed in Baghdad in the years before he married his wife. After the marriage was arranged his parents were obliged to throw a party. They called him in Baghdad and told him to bring a bull home to slaughter for the party. He went to a local farm and bought a bull. He intended to transport the bull in the back of his Toyota pick up truck so loaded the bull in the truck and tied it to the roll bar behind the cab. The bull went in easily enough but throughout the ride the bull bucked around in the back of the truck. About halfway to Basrah the truck tipped up on two wheels. Adnan looked in the mirror and saw that the bull had jumped out of the truck but had not immediately come loose. He dragged the bull for some 40 yards before it broke free.

The bull had been hurt in the accident but not seriously. However, the bull ran like a mad cow deep into the field beside the highway with Adnan in pursuit.

A crowd gathered to watch as Adnan spent the next 5 hours chasing the bull around the fields. Try as he may to catch the bull it never let him get within 35 yards. Finally, he decided he needed to wound the animal to slow it down. He shot the animal in the leg with his pistol but it didn’t slow the bull. He chased the animal for another hour and shot it 3 more times in the same leg without any affect. He saved the last bullet to shoot the animal in the head intending to kill it and butcher it on the spot.

Just as he was about to shoot the animal in the head a small boy, maybe 8 yrs old, walked out in the field and said he would catch the bull for 5 dinars (about 5 cents nowadays but big money in those days). Adnan shooed the boy away but another adult said the boy could do it. Adnan agreed and the boy walked away. A few minutes later the boy returned to the field herding several cows, sheep, goats, and other barnyard animals. He walked out to the bull, let the animals circle around the bull and then herded all the animals plus the bull back to the barnyard without ever laying a hand on the bull. Adnan paid the boy 25 dinars and set off to get married.