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.
- Date
- June 6, 1910
- Period
- Pre-1914
- Made by
- Molla Nasreddin (satirical weekly, Tiflis); cartoon signed by Josef Rotter
- Country
- Russian Empire
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Corporation
- Regime
- Russian Empire
- Leader
- Nicholas II
- Audience
- Mixed
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1910, before 1931; Commons tags PD-old-70-expired and CC-PD-Mark)
Molla Nasreddin, Tiflis, no. 22, 6 June 1910, p. 5; illustration by Josef Rotter; via Wikimedia Commons (File:Mn 1910 6 6 n22 p5.jpg)
Text on the object
Персидск. конституція سید عبدالله پارتیاسی افراط پارتیاسی نه وقت بر قوتلی پارتا چخاجاق که بو یاتمش آرابانی بر طرفه چکوب خلاص ایتسون. اعتدالیون پارتیاسی
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.
