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Story #632 (1961--62, Ta]~ #13) N~t2r: Hatice Geny, 60

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Location: Iskenderun, kaza townof Hatay ProTince

.Q!:t!: Febr1i1ary 1962

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::ft~ -::It:6'3-Z-(!~g~~ ~ _t~e~ Who OWned a(i~~:=:~~~:~ ~

Q ~ ~:;--~~;; ":-;;t;/There onCEt were a 1Loca and his ~ who owned a ~~us~~,.--

had a kelo~lan [baldheacled boy] who cleaned the <!~~~~ and kept

the @going in the bslthhouse. The keloglan, however, was very

1"C:!:~~k~ -c.1co~e~ --~+

clever.

The hoca "ould go to the bathhouse every day and sit at the

(~:;M;)'s plaCEt. Every once in a while the keloglan would say to

his mother, "It is very hard to get any moneY' from the hoca. He

does not pay mEt my wagee~."

His mother said, "Oh, son. f'

The keloglan then s~ked, "Do you still h~lve the long ~~

you wore when you beCaJllE~ a~? And the long hair you had which

got cut off?"

"I do," said his mother.

"Can you get them for me?" asked the boy":s:~ -1 -kJ(~ 1 ~ :-:-~ ~~ ~ So he put OD his mother's lW8ddi~ ~W-ID and placed her ~

~...J.c-.~ TO .~ a .. P on his bald head.

1'~

Tyin~~ a thin~~ OTer the hair. he vent to

"Whatthe bathhouse. When he got there, he asked the bath keeper,

are you doing, ~~?"

The hoca replied, "I am just sitting here, child."

"When will the men come out 80 that I can go in?" asked the

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kelo'glan.

The hoca: "They'll be out any time now. but I could give

you a separate room, and you could stay there."

The bo,.: "No t I couldn' t stay there. Whenever they get out t

I shall then come baclc."

The boY' replied, "Where is your holDe, uncle?"

"Right ac~oss the street."

The kelo~lAm went across the street, knocked on the door, and

tol.. the wife tl1at the hoca wanted his dinner. She went in and got

his dinner and 1:ook it to the hoca. The hoca a.te~~~~~~).s dinner w .

-So.-i~the keloglan hac! just brought and started making dTanCes'"

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"girl."

The next day, the keloglan told his mother he would go to the

hoc a once again [in disguise]. His mother said, "All right."

And the boy once again went to the bathhouse. The hoca, see-

ing the "girl, II ,said, "Would you go and get my dinner again,

daughter? This "time, bave my wife make(~~~!~~~i~ and may-be

some ~~~e~_!~ too."

"All right." said kelo~lan

He went to i:he hoca's wife, got his dinner, but took it to his

His mother exclaimed, "Howmother instead of taking it to the hoca.

wonderful," and they sa1: down and ate the dinner and drank the soup.

If.Ostory #632

Meanwhile, 'the hoca waited and waited for his dinner, but

when no one brought it to him, he vent to his house to see what

had happened. H4! asked, "Whatever happened to my dinner?"

Meanwhile, his w:lfe, after giving the boy the dinner, had had to go

on an errand.

The "girl" i:hen told the hoca that there were @~ waiting

for him at his home and took him to his house. When they arrived,

the boy said, "TIle company is downstairs," and directed him d~

some dark t6t~~. The boca, misinterpreting the "girl's" inten-

tions, started to descend the stairs ~rrilly. The keloglan then

gave him a swift kick f:rom behind, and the hoca tumbled down to the ~-.,..t-4. --'Ioc.-.~ --,I:

bottom of the jst~Lirs. ,The Qoy. le~t the ~oca there, with bloody .,to.

When the hoca' s "ife returned, she exclaimed, rICh, my God. What a

state you are in."

(In the old days doctors used to go down the street crying,

Of course that was a few hundred years ago.)

1:

I...~L~.,., --I0(~~~*Doctor, doctor."~-r-- ~ J.c.t..,~t- tv e.. Right then, the bald-headed boy got quickly into a doctor's

~~.. --o? d.,c>(ovcostume and went by the hoc a , s door crying, '~octor, doctor. Is

there anyone who needs a doctor?"

The hoca rnef.\nvhile" vas moaning and crying and vould not let

His vife said, !1Boca, ve must call the doctor.his wife touch hj.m.

Look, he is just passing by. Let me call him."

"But, woman, we will have to pay him one~@~;~~~~ exclaimed

,~ --I~~ 14 rDP

nose and mouth aIld his legs hurting, and returned to his own home.

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i, the hoca.

Then the wolnan said, "Well, let us sacrifice one gold piece

80 that Y'°u can I~t better."

So they ca1:led the doctor in. The doctor examined the hoca

thoro~ while he asked the wife to leave the room. Then he said,

"Boca, you can n4~ver get vell sitting here. I will take you gold

piece, but I musi!; take you to the bathhouse and apply these E::

~ in the ~~1)" -

[Ahmet U~l: "0]1 the belly '""f~"~' r4/~+

N~~ator: "Yes, on th~~l~

But the hoca protested, "Bow can I get there V'

The keloglaJl said, "Wetll get you there, but there must be no

one else there, "bile I minister to your~~~"

And he took him to the bathhouse. He washed his head with

soap and wrapped it with a head dress. Suppos&dly he was a doctor,

Then he oiled hils body t but Vsed~;~~ and uso treated him in

The poor hoca was all broken up by the da7~ sseveral other va;rs.

events anyway. ~['he keloglan left him there moaning and went straight

to the boca's ho1lSe.

He found tm~ hoc a , s wife there and told her the hoca was just

fine, and that she should go get him, because he had been unable

to get him out o:f there. The hoca' s wife went to the bathhouse to

~he bell.y ,stone is a large round stone t heated or in a notpart of the ba.th, but in an area of dry heat rather than steam.

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fetch her husband, but could not find him anywhere.

I'inallY'.

ahe

found him lying on the l>elly stone moaning anc:l groaning, lamenting

that he was dying. His vife helped him up anc:L they made their waJr

home.

On the way, the IlOCa said, "Woman" the kelo'glan is behind

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all thes~~ misha~ that }lave befallen _.'f

And the wife repli~tdt "Is that so, husbaJ:Ld?lfr' .1

,'"'

I'.The hoca had a .fai~~hful man. He ca:L1ed ]Ium and told him to

get aE!~ and parade :It on the streets, crying out, "A camel

for a ride. For a piec4~ of gold, a came:L to l"ide."

Meanwhile, the keloglan vas preparing hiJ1asel:f'. While the maIl

paraded .the camel in th~~ street, he ran into a (~;~~;;!!j!~ vho

Have ;your fort1me t4:)ld, and be morecried, "I tell fortunes,.

fortunate." The faithful man got to talking ,rith the fortune-

Meanwhile, the bald-headed boy (~ame JI~ding on a~:i!')

teller.

and recognized the hoca"s faithful man. He a:l~proached him and

told him the fortune-te:ller vas very good at J:18r trade and that

While '~he faithful manshe was an exceptional :f'ortune-teller.

became engrossed in con'rersation with the fortune teller, the

keloglan ran off with tJtle camel. In the midst of his fortune-

telling, the faithful ~~ happened to look up and exclaimed,

"Whatever happened to tJ~e camel?"

The~) fortune .teller, in her diluect It said, ItOh, the

camel. The fellow stanlliing by took it a long time ago."

The lK>°r faithful IIDan vas distraughi: at JI2aring lost the

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t.jJStory #632if'

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I, boca's camel. He went to the hoca and told hi.m what had happened.

The hoca was angry at the 10s8 but told the faithful man to go

out and cry out, "Camel !Deat! Camel meat! For the love ot(§)

who has some camel meat?"

So t the faithful man vent out on the street t and together

Some camel

meat!

For the love of Glod, who has some ~:amel meat?" The bald-

headed boy's mothert who was at homet hea.:t"d the street criers and

came out to inquire why l!nyone should want camll~l meat. She asked

the faithful man Vhy he Jtleeded camel meat" and he said, "Oh lady,

we have a sick man, and ,the doctor says tJtat t]!le only thing that

will cure him is eating ,some camel meat."

The kelo~lan t s mother said, "~ poor fell~:)W, I wish I could

help you out, but our cSlnel meat is all finished. However, the

head remains, and I could give that to you."

and all ,.our~~~~ af5 well. May all 1;hat :,ou touch turn to

gold." And he quickly m~irked the door of the l:>ald-headed boy's

house with an "X" sign i11 tar.

At about this time 1:he keloglan returned ]:lOlDe and asked his

mother, "How are you, Mother? HoW' is everythiJ:1g going? Do we have

meat to eat?"

,

kI"",,I':,

',',!Ii.~"t

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But theAnd the mother repl:Led, "Everything is fiJ:Le, son.

meat is all finished. I had the head of ~;he c~IUDel that remained,

but there was a fellow w~Uking the street askiJ:1g for camel meat,

Lf~Story #632

and I gave him the head."

"Oh,Mother.

What did you do? What kind of a fellow vas he?"

,asked tt1e bald-headed bclY.

AntI the D>ther saitl, "Weli, son, hEt vas asking for camel meat

It{.~;

'because he had a sick IDSm who could only be cured by eating some

I:amel meat."

The keloglan was VElry alert Anld graspelli the situation iDUDe-

~jliiately and said. "It iSI some kind lof aCf!~ Look, he took the

Jt1.ead of the camel, but 8Llso marked '~he door with G We should

]tiave some tar around her-e. Would y.)U fetch it for me?"~I,I

His mother went and; brought him a peil of tar. The bald-

]:J.eaded boy took the tar and made th4t same mark on eVJry door in -+"v -' a. ..c'f~-r~KJ""~ K.t ~t ~ '"~

]ilis n,eighborhood. d:" C~"I' S ,)':.1 o~ ..1..(' ~ .('f/ 4...~"",,

Meanwhile, the hoca, having be4~n inforrned of the latest develop-

IHnts, went out to find the keloglaJ~'S h,ous~t. 'when he discovered

1Cbat all the !louses had the same maJrk, b.e bt~came furious with his

:raithful man and shouted., "May both your ey~~s never be blindS HoW'

4:an I ever find the keloglants hous4~ when YC)U have made the same

I~ign on every door?" Since they weJre unabl~t to find the house,

they returned. The hoca tried and 1~ried to find a way to catch

'che keloglan. Come what might, he 'iaB dete]rmined to catch him.

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'['hey kept watch, and when the kelog:Lan was f~een riding his mule,

'chey went after him and caught him. They told the 6~' s men

'chat he was a ~~ and bad him thr~)Wn into ~l:.

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The keloglan found out that the keeper at the jail was a

~~ --o,t. j.;{

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story lover. He struck up conversa.tion with the keeper, and

after they had talked about general subjects for a while, he asked

him, ~~keeper, do you like tales?"

The jailer brightened Wit~~~~ and replied, "I love

tales."

The kelo~lan then EJaid, "I'll tell you the most beautiful

'tales in the world, but you will le't me go :f'ree for twenty-four

J~ur8 ."

The jailer said, "If you tell IDe stori4!S, rt11 do anything you

ltant ."

So, the keloglan told him many wonderful tales, and the

,jailer was overjoyed by them, and h.~ let hirl go for twenty-four

hours. The keloglan went straight 1~o a ~~'s shop and had a

~i!;i:;~~~~)made of @ He had Bmal(f.."ij). sewn on every bit of

fur. The costume was completed in 1:went1-four hours, and the

l~eloglan returned to jail, just as he had p}~omised.

The jailer was delighted to se~t him ancl said, "Good for you, my

1>01- You came back just as you pro~l1ised. You can be trusted on

~knY account."

UlX>n hearing that statement, the kelogJ.an said,

jravor to ask of you.

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f50 forth. He stressed the imiK)rtanc:e of bej.ng careful about the

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guards and told him the,. would cut him into, bits if the,. caught

him.

CAbInet Uysal: "Was the ;jail part of' the sul,tan's palace'?"

Narrator: "Yes, they weJt'e both in the same building_"],

So, the keloglan took some~~~~~~~,.es, sleeping

powder-and went along his way spri,nkling the powder here and

there as he encountered adversaries:, and finally got to the

sultan's sleeping chamb4~r. He stoo,d by the 8U~~~&t~ltan'8 bed, and2 ~ 'Z .-0..1

when the sultan woke up, he told him he was th ~l of Death"

(d;~~;b)and that he had come to take him. The sultan became very frightened,

got on his ~ and begged him to! spe.re bis life and promised

him an;rt':hing hiS~ might desiret. As tb.e keloglan moved

closer, all the bells on his costUJ!Ie jingled. The sultan was so

The keloglanterrified that he almos't died, right there and then.

continued frightening him and askedl him for' his daughter. "other-

wise I shall come every night to yclu until I have your~

So,

Other-if ,"ou do give me your daughter, it: will be, best for you.

wise, I shall be back each night for you."

The frightened sultan, in ordEtr to S&1re his soul from the

devil, promised to announce the gi,ring of lLis daughter's band to

him the next morning.

(1 should have told you that the Atlgel of I>eath asked for the

~ ~he Moslem and Jewish Angel of Death is Azrail. He is notusually pictured as a d,evil but as a winged being. The devilfigure often comes for the soul of a perSOJl whose death is due inthe Christian tradition, as with ]~aust.

",L7story #632

sultan's daughter not for himself but tor a friend who was in

jail.)

[Woman interrupts to recapi tulate I~tion aI~ remind narratorfiCl.';c' +c ;..

[,

where he had left off.]

So the sultan orde:red the kelclglan to be released .from prison.

and the keloglan got out of jail. The sultan told him he would

igive his middle daUghter's hand in marriage to him and that there<~~~:-=::eE. "ouId be~~~ ~~~-~~~ of celt~brati()n.

The kelo~lan protested elightl;" to thi~5 fortune. but. of

course, inwardly he was rejoicing a1~ this tl1rn of events. Every-

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one vas astounded that the sultan would give his daughter to a

]~or keloglan. But everyone celebr~..ted~~!~~~ and~!~L

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