A nation's humour can be hard for an outsider to understand. Several countries have earned a certain reputation because of the things they like to joke about. People often talk about British humour or about German humour, but never about Bulgarian humour. There is a reason for this, and it is not because there is something wrong with the way Bulgarians like to joke, but because of all the reasons that have led to the formation of this humour. As in many other things in Bulgaria, these reasons reside in the country's history and, mostly, in the 500 years that the country spent under Ottoman rule.

In all those long years, the only thing the oppressor could not take away from Bulgarians was their hopes for a better future that came in the form of jokes, fairytales and legends. The greater the suffering, the greater the hopes and dreams. And when there was no one to raise a hand against the enemy, the people themselves thought of one. As with all heroes, the hero the Bulgarians conceived had nothing in common with real life. Usually he was in the prime of life, strong, brave, extremely good looking and always ready to help people in trouble, especially when they suffered from the Ottomans' injustice.

The hero was ready to die to save people from the injustice. This is why Bulgarians started identifying themselves with heroes and, later, when Bulgarians started joking about themselves, heroes naturally became part of these jokes.

Krali Marko
The hero Krali Marko (Prince Marko) is an essential part of Bulgarian folklore and collective memory. Historically, he was a real person, son of the Serbian ruler Vukasin, and the king of the Prilep area in today's Macedonia, who died in a fight with the Ottomans in 1371. Collective memory has placed in the character of Krali Marko the image of the defender of Bulgarians against Ottoman invaders. It was he who revenged against the Ottomans and he who did all the comforting of the victims.

He possessed all the qualities of a mythical hero and if, for some reason, he had problems, the Lord himself would help him find a way out. To get the revenge done, Krali Marko was allowed to use tricks that some might even call lies in his fight against the invaders.

It all comes down to surviving, Bulgarians from those time would have said. In a situation where Bulgarians were deprived of near any rights for more than 500 years, what they developed as a winning strategy against the Muslim invaders were qualities such as wisdom, trickiness and lying. But lying for a good cause, something for which defeating the invaders certainly qualified.

As such, the enslaved managed to replace the brutal open fight with the Ottomans - certain death - with an intellectual challenge represented in national folklore. In most of the fairytales dating from those times, all Ottomans were pictured as narrow-minded people who liked to drink alcohol and lacked wisdom, but possessed brutal force. It was always the Bulgarians who were young, beautiful and strong, and even if they died fighting with the Ottomans, they would be victorious in the eyes of the people. To avoid dying, however, Bulgarian heroes were allowed all means, even if that required lying, something forbidden in the Christian faith.

And here comes a big question. How come Bulgarians who have turned their Christian faith into one of their main strongholds against the Muslim invaders justify the use of lies?

Hitar Petar
The answer to all these questions is Hitar Petar, the most lovable and tricky character Bulgarians ever thought of. His name speaks for himself. "Hitar" in Bulgarian means "tricky" or "cunning", thus the idea of his character. Hitar Petar has no creator because he was born of the minds of thousands of unknown Bulgarians.

As in Krali Marko's case, Hitar Petar came about in an era when Bulgarians could not form a proper resistance to the invaders; in Hitar Petar, they found a way to mock them, as physically defeating them was not possible. After several uprisings in the first century after the Ottomans' arrival, it took Bulgarians a while to form an organised mass resistance. In the meantime, Hitar Petar was travelling the country, tricking Ottomans.

The story goes that Hitar Petar was born in a small village somewhere between the 15th and 18th century. He was poor, but had a jolly character and a sharp mind. He got the name Hitar after he gave witty advice to his master, whom he served as a common labourer. He was forced to leave the village after he was unjustly accused and went travelling around the world, searching for justice.

His main weapon was a "bag full of tricks". He travelled around the vast Ottoman Empire on his donkey, which was his best friend and companion. During this time, he repeatedly met an old man called Nastradin Hodja, who became his closest ally in outwitting people. Nastradin Hodja was Hitar Petar's Muslim equivalent and shared the same qualities. Sometimes, they entered into "conflicts" between themselves, with both outwitting each other, but usually they stood together in the fight against evil, sharing the difficulties of a poor man's life.

Hodja's character is interesting for the fact that for the first time, Bulgarians started differentiating from among the Ottomans. Because Hodja was an old Muslim man who shared the same difficulties as every other poor soul, Bulgarians put him in one boat with Hitar Petar.

The town of wittiness
There is a city in Bulgaria that has become a synonym for wittiness and cunning. Its citizens are, even today, considered great jokers and tricksters who always have ideas about how to save time and money by fooling other people. The town is called Gabrovo and is in central Bulgaria in the Stara Planina range. There are a number of joke books that have originated from Gabrovo, known collectively as "gabrovski shegi" ("Gabrovo jokes"). There is a House of Humour and Satire in the city today, and every year, a festival is held in honour of Gabrovo's wittiness and humour.

These anecdotes are, by default, short stories of everyday life with a happy ending that underlines Bulgarian intellect, wittiness and the ability to see the interesting side in ordinary, every-day events.

Again, the answer to why Gabrovo became known for these stories can be found in the city's history.

It was found after Bulgaria fell under Ottoman rule in 1393. The invaders naturally occupied the plains where land was fertile. In order to keep their freedom, faith, language and traditions, some Bulgarians moved to places which were out of the invaders' direct reach, such as mountains.

Ottomans were known for their dislike of high mountains, so there, Bulgarians could feel free, to some extent. This was how Gabrovo was founded. And because the free land was limited, people in the town took up craftsmanship and trade.

This naturally turned the plains into their main source of income, because this was where the money for their products came. Logically, going to the plains required a lot of trips outside their town and a lot of bargaining and convincing of potential buyers. It was a dynamic life. A trader from Gabrovo had to invest a lot of effort in making his product and then finding someone to buy it. Money became the symbol of prosperity and health. That's why the idea of saving, and not spending, money became an essential part of the town's philosophy of living. In every activity, the Gabrovian searched for the financial source. It formed his character and soul and is the heart of all Gabrovian anecdotes.

But the man of Gabrovo was not the only one who possessed cleverness, and that's why he had to put more effort in outwitting others. This is reflected in all of the Gabrovo stories that always see Gabrovians coming up with the most peculiar ideas. What made Gabrovo's people different from other people was their ability to mock their own shortcomings and turn them into advantages. It was a simple philosophy: the ability to mock yourself creates trust in other people, which makes them spend money more easily.

Bai Ganyo
An extremely popular character who originated from literature is Bai Ganyo. "Bai" (pronounced "by") is how Bulgarians commonly refer to a man who has reached his late 30s. Bai Ganyo was born of Aleko Konstantinov, the famous and highly talented author of satirical stories in the late 19th century, around the time when Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman rule. Konstantinov was famous for mocking the shortcomings of the Bulgarian character and the then-political struggles.

Bai Ganyo represents the worst aspects of the Bulgarian character, one mixed with false patriotism subjected to one simple goal: to make money no matter what or how. It showed to what extent the sweet images of Gabrovians and Hitar Petar had changed in the new liberated Bulgaria.

The plot of the novel Bai Ganyo is that he was a merchant. He tried to expand his business activities to Western Europe by taking several trips to Central Europe, where he would try to blend in by denouncing all things Bulgarian, if it served his purpose - profit. He cared only about money. These trips were mocked by Konstantinov with a finesse and humour that made Bai Ganyo a symbol of Bulgarian self-deprecation.

The result is that Bai Ganyo is, today, Bulgaria's national anti-hero, a part of numerous jokes and anecdotes in which he deals with the French, Americans, Russians and Germans. He personifies arrogance, insolence and greediness.

Ivancho and Mariika
The past 50 years have been dominated by jokes and quips about two teenagers, a boy and a girl, called Ivancho and Mariika. Ivancho is a boy with an extreme curiosity in sex; all of his efforts are aimed at tricking his girlfriend Mariika, who comes across as not very smart.

Today, the jokes about Ivancho have become a symbol of the transition Bulgaria went through from communism to democracy, with all the difficulties reflected in these jokes. Ivancho as an image has grown so strong that some newspapers even have columns entitled "Little Ivancho", with readers suggesting their own jokes about him.

Another modern-day "character" of sorts is Radio Yerevan, a legacy of communist times, when jokes about the radio were extremely popular in all of the former socialist states. These jokes operate on a question-and-answer format, where the radio is asked weird questions and the answer is always a funny one.

The latest social changes in Bulgarian society have resulted in a number of jokes about the "mutri", as the thick-necked businessmen who drive black 4x4s are popularly known. They came to replace the jokes about police officers and military officers from the communist era. The mutri are always pictured as extremely arrogant, aggressive and very stupid, which could be viewed as Bulgarians' revenge on them.

Men or women?
Wherever Hitar Petar and Nastradin Hodja went, they always fought about something, coming up with all kinds of arguments. One day, Hitar Petar said that women outnumbered men, but Nastradin Hodja disagreed. Hitar Petar won the argument by saying that there were more women than men because some men never raised their voices against their wives, which made those men act like women.

The kiss
Mariika came home and told her mother that Ivancho had kissed her.
"How did this happen?" her mother fretted.
"It wasn't easy, but three other girls helped me to force him."

The piano
A mutra bought himself a piano and invited his friends to hear him play. They came, and he pressed only one key for 30 minutes.
"Hey, we thought that you had to press all the keys, like we have seen people do it on TV."
"That's because they don't know what the right key is and I do," he said.

Radio Erevan
They asked Radio Yerevan what should be done when one sees a little green man at a crossroads.
The answer: "One should cross the street."

Gabrovo people like to:
Cut the tails off their cats so that they can close the door quickly and save heat when letting a cat out; hence, the black cat with a stub tail has become a long-lasting symbol of Gabrovo;

Fit taps onto eggs to sipe as much as they need - and no more - for soup, because a whole egg seems too much to them;
Stop their clocks at night to save wear on the cogwheels;

Put green-coloured spectacles on their donkeys when they feed them shavings, so as to make the poor beasts think that it is hay;
Heat the knives of people invited to tea so the guests can't take any butter;

Let a cat down the chimney to save money on chimney sweeps;

Have their purchases wrapped in newspaper, so that they can read the paper after unwrapping the item.

When something new has only just hit the headlines somewhere, it is already being done in Gabrovo.

They sweat in both the smithy and the market place - when bargaining.