Week 4 Reading Diary: Turkish Fairy Tales

These are notes over the Turkish Fairy Tales unit.

Fear: A woman tells her son about fear and he sets off in search of understanding what fear is. He meets the robbers who are fearful of ghosts. He does not fear them. He also does not fear the second ghost. He meets Deniz Kyzy, Daughter of the Sea shaking a boat. The boy gets her to leave. Again, he does not fear her. He comes to the alter of goddesses who praise him for never once fearing any of them.

Fear (cont.): The maidens give him the second bracelet to return to the Cadi. He brings back the first bracelet and then returns to finding fear. He was hailed as the new Shah of the country and was not informed that the Shah usually dies. The Sultana (or queen) was able to spook him by scaring him suddenly with a trick, a bird under the soup cover. His mother was brought to him in the palace and the ending was happy.

The Wizard-Dervish: The Great King has no son and was told by the wandering monk that it was the source of his sorrow. The dervish, or monk, gives him a secret to get him a son by using his supernatural powers.The Great King did indeed have a son! At 12 years of age, the dervish kidnaps the little prince and he meets his daughter, who can transform into a dove. The dervish beat the prince until he was happy, understanding that the prince knew nothing. He ends up marrying the girl. Turns out her mother is a witch.

The Wizard-Dervish (cont).: The witch mother is not happy with their marriage and in order to escape her, the maiden turns the boy into a garden and herself into a gardener. As soon as they fooled the mother, they returned on their way until she found them again. This time she turned them into a baker and oven. Again, she turns them into a pond and duck. Finally they hide in an inn and the boy goes to look for carriage, but the dervish finds him and takes him back to the palace. The palace was still in the time of the wedding, so he thinks it's all a dream. The dove finds him and is sad. In the end, he still marries the dove maiden.

The Fish-Peri:  Mahomet, a fisherman, dies and made his wife never tell their son about the fishing. The boy ended up alone and poor, but one day he found his father's net and realized he had been a fisherman. During his fishing trips, his home would magically be cleaned. Turns out it was the fish that turned into a beautiful maiden. She finally becomes his wife, but the Great King becomes jealous and challenges the boy for his wife. The wife, however, sends him on his way telling him not to worry because she desired a cushion.

The Fish-Peri (cont.): The boy had thrown the cushion where the palace was to be built and magic happened. The Padishah, or Greak King, next desires a crystal bridge and the maiden tells the boy to find the Arab and cast the bolster into the sea. The bridge is made. The third test was to throw a feast so magnificent. He gets the coffee-mill but drops it on the way. The next task is to produce a mule from an egg. He accidentally dropped one of the three, and thus he produces only two mules. The Padishah asks for a baby only days old that can speak and walk. The Arab finds him one. The baby beat up the Padishah and the boy was given permission to wed.

The Crow-Peri: Similar to the fisherman, there was a man who caught birds to sell. His son was left without knowing his fathers occupation but finds out anyway. He sells a beautiful bird to the Padishah and the bird is put into a golden cage. The boy was given tons of gold. A lala was jealous and told the Great King to make the boy gather ivory for a new cage. The magic crow helped the boy find it, but the bird of the Great King did not sing. The boy was instructed to find the owner.

The Crow-Peri (cont.): The crow helps the boy again. A ship was built according to the crow's instructions and sailed right. The Queen of mountain is the owner. He takes only the fairy on board and sails away. The fairy was taken to the palace and the bird began to sing. The Padishah married the Queen, but one day the Queen falls ill. With a feather from the crow, he is able to pass the lion guards and save her with the fairy medicine. In the end, the crow was a punished fairy servant but she was forgiven for helping the Queen. The bird-catcher marries her.

Patience-Stone and Patience-Knife: This one is about a poor woman's daughter. Mysterious animals keep telling her that her fate is with a dad man. It drove her crazy.