“If a rooster crows three times on the tail of a beaver, don’t take a bath.”
That was advice that a guy named Vern told my buddy Dave and me when we were in middle school. It seemed reasonable at the time. In fact, I still find times to use that memorable quote… like right now.
I thought of Vern and his words of wisdom after reading an article from a few years back on The Guardian websiteabout the “world’s dirtiest man.” Now, I realize your brain may have just taken you in another direction, but this story is truly about a man who had not bathed for 60 years. His name was Amou Haji, and he resided in the village of Dejgah in the southern province of Fars.
Haji was a 94-year-old Iranian hermit who, maybe not surprisingly, also ate roadkill and smoked a pipe filled with animal excrement, according to the story.
A photo of Haji shows him covered in soot, and the story states that he lived in a cinder-block shack. The villagers said Haji experienced “emotional setbacks in his youth” that led him to the lifestyle of abstaining from showering or bathing. Haji said he believed that cleanliness would make him ill.
The villagers apparently persuaded Haji to wash for the first time — and then he died. Not immediately, but he did pass away just a few months after cleaning up.
Now I don’t know if a beaver was anywhere close, or if a rooster was crowing or not, but I do think it was a mistake for Haji to bathe. I know that sounds odd in our world of obsessive hand washing and sanitizing, but if he lived to be 94 and spent the last 60 years avoiding soap and water, well, maybe he knew something we still don’t.
As far as eating roadkill and smoking a pipe filled with animal excrement, I am going to just assume those were coincidences.
Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707