---
title: 'Persidsk. konstitutsiya (Persian Constitution): the Swan, the Pike and the Crab, Molla Nasreddin, 1910'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/molla-nasreddin-persian-constitution-swan-pike-crab-1910/
description: A colour cartoon headed 'Persian constitution' in Russian shows a stalled ox-cart, 'the constitution', loaded with turbaned and hatted men while a swan…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Persidsk. konstitutsiya (Persian Constitution): the Swan, the Pike and the Crab, Molla Nasreddin, 1910](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/molla-nasreddin-persian-constitution-swan-pike-crab-1910.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/molla-nasreddin-persian-constitution-swan-pike-crab-1910.jpg)

# Persidsk. konstitutsiya (Persian Constitution): the Swan, the Pike and the Crab, Molla Nasreddin, 1910

A colour cartoon headed 'Persian constitution' in Russian shows a stalled ox-cart, 'the constitution', loaded with turbaned and hatted men while a swan, a pike and a crab pull it in three directions. Handwritten Arabic-script labels attach the party names to the animals ('Extremists' party', 'Sayyid Abdullah's party') and the caption asks when a strong party will drag the cart clear. The tell is the label: a party name pasted onto an animal from Krylov's fable stands in for any account of what each party wanted.

## Text on the object

Original (Azerbaijani Turkic (Arabic script), Russian) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
Персидск. конституція

سید عبدالله پارتیاسی

افراط پارتیاسی

نه وقت بر قوتلی پارتا چخاجاق که بو یاتمش آرابانی بر طرفه چکوب خلاص ایتسون.

اعتدالیون پارتیاسی
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Persian constitution

Sayyid Abdullah's party

The Extremists' party

When will a strong party come forth that will pull this stuck cart to one side and save it?

The Moderates' party
```

Labels read from the 1,280 px image. The last line, 'the Moderates' party', stands apart after the caption; it may be a signature-like attribution or a label for the pike, and is given as printed. A Russian-letter title and the artist's signature in Arabic script (Rotter) appear in the picture. Translation is by Claude, not checked by a fluent reader.

[← Torturing Women in Prison. Vote Against the Government](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/torturing-women-in-prison-wspu-1910/) [詔書 (Imperial Rescript on the Annexation of Korea), Korean translation, Official Gazette of the Government-General of Korea no. 1, p. 17 →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/annexation-rescript-korea-gazette-1910/)

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- [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/) (Dutch Republic · 1672 · Scapegoating, Name-calling)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (Great Britain · 1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [The North Briton, No. XLV, 23 April 1763 (John Wilkes), opening page](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/north-briton-no-45-wilkes-1763/) (Kingdom of Great Britain · Apr 23, 1763 · Name-calling)
- [The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Regt.](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/revere-bloody-massacre-king-street-1770/) (Province of Massachusetts Bay · Mar 1770 · Name-calling, Card stacking). Content note: Hand-coloured engraving of bloodied dead and wounded colonists after soldiers fired on a crowd.
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (France · 1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)