Murat Guvenc
Copyright © 2009 by Murat Guvenc
Visit website: www.bedsidetalesofsultan.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Published by Kybele Art, 2009
ISBN-10: 144210256X
ISBN-13: 9781442102569
Cover design by X Height Media
Contents
Preface i
Prologue 1
The Story of Clay Girl 3
The Story of Ginger Bread Boy 5
Altinbas – The Golden Hair 11
White Magic 17
The Garden of Saadet 31
The Cloud People 49
Granma’s Golden Recipe 73
Granma’s First Story 75
Granma’s Second Story 83
Granma’s Third Story 91
The Boy with the Monkey Tail 101
The Children of the Bath Attendant 119
The Chronicle of the Watermelons 125
The Yogurt-maker’s Daughters 131
The Seven Merits of Woman 147
The Battle of the Alphabet 165
Moon Cookies 169
The Great Elixir 193
Crooked Baby Finger 207
Epilogue 213
Glossary 217
Preface
The Bedside Tales of Sultan is a collection of fairy tales, fantasies and moral stories that aims to reach children of all ages and adults. The book unfolds through the story of a young Sultan who develops a sleeping disorder and finds salvation listening to fairy tales in order to ease his loneliness and boredom. Every night we listen to a different story which transports us to a new realm.
Some stories have sub-stories, and it takes a couple of nights to finish them; the characters, places and plots continuously change and then intervene with each other. Every tale is different but they all have one common characteristic; they are bedside tales that aim to educate us on morals, deepen our imaginations and entertain us. We learn, we live and we breathe through them.
Like every fiction, the tales use some symbols, settings and references, but none of the imaginary elements are meant to represent any specific time or person. Some characters are noble people from the royal court – Sultans, Viziers, merchants, judges; some possess magical powers – magicians, sorcerers; some are ordinary people like peasants, gardeners, shoemakers, bakers, tutors. And some tales are built upon pure imagination and we meet with walking clouds, talking fingers, migrating watermelons and fighting letters.
I’m inspired to write this book because I see fairy tales as a connection point between various cultures. Although we were all born and grew up in different lands, infused with different ideals and express our thoughts and beliefs in different languages, we still have so many commonalities, sharing the same history, using the same earthly resources and inheriting the same collective unconscious. I see fairy tales as the foundation of our social and psychological evolution and a great example to demonstrate how a myth cultivated many years ago in some part of the world can still be embraced with the same joy and interest in another part.
As world travelers when we become exposed to different cultures, we realize the world is bigger than we thought and richer than we foresaw. There is never an ultimate right or wrong, there will never be an absolute true or false. Values and beliefs are all subjective and we learn to respect every one of them and adapt as many as we can. I have learned that fairy tales are anonymous in nature and don’t belong to any culture or author. Fairy tales are playgrounds that reunite us with each other, teach us to respect different customs, and enjoy the diversity.
I’m inspired to write this book because I believe fairy tales are the ideal mix of good narrative, delicate poetry, vivid dialogue and effective moral education. Going back to my childhood and analyzing what stayed in my mind and what had been transformed into action, I realized that none of the books I read or listened to was as effective, as rich, as compelling and as stimulating as fairy tales. I don’t see fairy tales as simplified prose designed as an easy read for kids. For me, fairy tales are for all ages and one of the most effective mechanisms to reach a broader audience and tell a story that belongs to all of us.
I hope you will enjoy reading them.
Prologue
Many, many years ago, there lived a Sultan who ascended the throne in the midst of rebellions, invasions and turmoil. With his determined mind, unrelenting spirit and abundance of energy, he defeated his enemies one by one, sentenced the rebels to death and brought order and discipline to his sultanate. With the reforms he endorsed, he strengthened the resources of his state, put an end to all corruption and cultivated great hopes for his nation.
Sultan built himself a palace that he called the Palace of Felicity, which had no equal in beauty or comfort. He summoned the bravest, wittiest and most talented men of his sultanate and established his divan made of several advisors, ministers and his grand-vizier. He ordered construction of medrese - schools in rural areas to support the education of poor. Old buildings were repaired, new bridges and road were constructed and hospitals were modernized. He encouraged music and poetry in his reign and supported creativity and free thinking all the time.
Sultan possessed all the great merits except one - that he was extremely cautious with money in his court and always reluctant to pay any grants and rewards to anyone unless he had no other choice. Sultan and his Vizier had many arguments, but each time Sultan found a way to reduce the money he promised or not pay it at all.
Sultan possessed a strong body and was capable of great endurance. He didn’t get sick even one day since childhood. He ate anything he wanted, drank as much as he desired and spent countless hours in hunting without getting tired. He enjoyed a happy lifestyle until one day, all of a sudden, he developed a sleeping disorder.
Grand Vizier said “My Sultan. The land you chose for the capital of your empire isn’t only surrounded by the most fertile earth but also hosts the most skillful poets and storytellers. I’ll gather the best storytellers in your sultanate and assign them with the task of narrating you one of their tales every night.”
He didn’t take the problem seriously at the beginning, blaming the change in the weather at first, then the moon’s orientation, and then held one or two daily events responsible for the cause. Yet as the days passed by, his sleepless hours prolonged and the problem became a serious concern. Some nights he didn’t even close his eyes once. Day by day his energy declined, his concentration faded and his patience became very fragile. In his court, people came across a new Sultan, restless, agitated and vulgar. He couldn’t stand lengthy conversations nor tolerate any mistakes.
His mother, Sultana, noticed the awkward changes in her son and the growing concern in his divan and decided to take action. She commissioned the best physicians, nutritionists and therapists to find a remedy for the Sultan’s problem. They came up with a list of suggestions. They changed the furnishing and layout in his bedroom. His dietary habits were revised, avoiding coffee and alcohol and cutting down sugar and starch. He took steamed bath before bedtime. But regardless of what he did and how closely he followed their recommendations, his sleeping problem didn’t vanish.
Sultan could have possibly survived with a couple of hours of daily sleep, but and lack of engagement throughout the night drained all his energy and made him feel miserable. He couldn’t stand the boredom any longer and ordered his Vizier to find a solution to keep him occupied during the long nights.
Grand Vizier was a wise man and he thought that the best way to entertain Sultan was the art of storytelling. His empire was rich with all sorts of folk stories, fairy tales, legends and fantasies and there was no shortage of talented storytellers. He made up his mind quickly and went before Sultan. He said “My Sultan. The land you chose for the capital of your empire is not only surrounded by the most fertile earth but also hosts the most skillful poets and storytellers. I’ll gather the best storytellers in your sultanate and assign them the task of narrating you one of their tales every night. If you like what you hear, I’ll ask him to visit you the next day and tell you another story. If you don’t like what you hear, then I’ll assure you that you won’t see him in your sight again.”
Sultan thought for a moment. He always liked listening to stories and had most likely listened to hundreds of them already. He said “Very well. But make sure that those stories are entertaining enough to keep me engaged all night long and are ones that I haven’t heard before. If I like the story, in return I’ll grant the narrator a handful of gold and silver. But if I feel bored at any time, I’ll throw him off the balcony.”
Vizier, without losing any time, collected the best scholars, writers and storytellers. He consulted Sultana to be sure that none of the stories was heard by Sultan before. With that, he started sending a storyteller to Sultan every night to tell him a new story and ease his boredom.
The Story of Clay Girl
The first storyteller was an old blind man. He could hardly keep his balance while standing on his feet and found his way with the help of his walking stick. Based on what people said, the blind man had an extensive memory in which he could keep hundreds of stories, poems and lyrics in his mind without confusing one from the other and never missing even one line when he was narrating. Vizier took the blind man to Sultan’s presence the next night and helped him sit down. The blind man greeted Sultan in long and well-versed sentences and said “I’ll tell you the story of Clay Girl.” And with that he started telling his tale.
Once there was a young, skillful pottery maker who could give any shape to clay. With his delicate hand movements and sharp eyes, he could make saucers, jugs and pots that no others could match in design and perfection. The pottery maker fell in love with one of the most beautiful girls in the village and soon they got married.
They pursued a happy life in peace and harmony, but one day the pottery maker was shocked with the unexpected death of his wife. He carried his grief for a long time and refused to remarry. Years passed, and the pottery maker continued making all sorts of cooking ware and pots and pleasing everyone with his unique artwork, but the absence of having a child in his life made him feel sad and unsatisfied.
In one of those long and lonely nights, he had a dream in which he talked to his daughter, who was made of clay. He woke up in the middle of the night sweating in excitement. He left his home immediately and went to his workshop. He threw a lump of clay onto his wheel and started shaping it with his hands. First he made the torso. Then he shaped the head. Later he added arms, legs and facial details and baked it in the furnace. Lastly he painted the clay and dressed it with some fabric.
Clay Girl started talking to the pottery maker. She told him stories and made him laugh. He was amused with her stories. He sat next to her until dawn and listened. When the street got crowded in the morning, he took her to his house and hid her inside the drawer. He went back and worked as if nothing had been changed in his life.
Before the day ended, he went to one of the cloth stores and purchased some fine clothes for his daughter. The store owner asked him the reason for his spending when he had no children, but the pottery maker didn’t respond. He paid for the clothes and left the store.
Clay Girl was waiting for him in the drawer when he arrived home. He took her out and began to put on the new clothes that he had purchased. He was so excited that he didn’t realize one of her legs was missing and there was a big scratch on her back. Soon her head fell apart. He was so upset and blamed himself for making the clay so hard and fragile that it broke into pieces.
He went to his workshop without losing any time and sat in front of his wheel to make another copy of his daughter. This one turned out better than the previous one. But he felt so tired at the end that he fell asleep forgetting to put her in the furnace.
The next morning he got up with the noise of the street and hid her without anyone noticing her. He worked all day long and with the arrival of evening, he took Clay Girl to his house. On his way he bought groceries to prepare a special dinner to celebrate the occasion. The vendor asked him the reason for buying plenty of food while he lived alone. The pottery maker didn’t respond. He paid for the groceries and left the store.