AL-WAJH, 16 January 2008 — In the 2007 award winning Cohen Brothers film “No Country for Old Men,” the character of a sheriff (played by Tommy Lee Jones) points out that even when circumstances seem certain you never know what’s going to happen.

The character tells the story of a man who tried to slaughter a cow but lost control of the animal and is killed by a ricocheting bullet from his own gun that had been intended to put the animal down. A similar thing happened recently in Saudi Arabia, according to Al-Madinah daily.

A man was trying to slaughter a goat when he lost control of the animal, which charged and rammed him rigorously in the gut. The man was knocked unconscious for an unknown amount of time.

By the time he was found, it was too late; he was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital, the result of internal bleeding.

Both stories illustrate that even when things are certain, ultimately the outcome is God’s will: Insha’Allah, as they say in the Arab-speaking world.

Biting the Ear That Drives

MADINAH, 16 January 2008 — A Saudi woman was being held for questioning by police here after a taxi driver complained about her toothy objection to his fare, the daily Al-Madinah reported yesterday.

According to the report, the woman attacked the cab driver after an argument over his rate after he drove his customer to her destination. She lunged forward and bit his ear hard enough to cause treatable injury.

Price Too Good to Be Honest

DAMMAM, 16 January 2008 — Hey buddy, wanna buy a gas cylinder? This was (more or less) what a young Saudi man said to a passer by, according to a report in yesterday’s Al-Madinah newspaper.

The customer, an older Saudi man, decided the price of SR120 was right and bought the gas cylinder.

It turned out that the price was too good to be honest: when the man arrived home with the cylinder his wife pointed out that the gas tank was identical to the one that had been stolen hours earlier from the backyard.