Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales, Part B

Turkish Fairy Tales

The Liver: Story source: Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales by Ignacz Kunos, with illustrations by Willy Pogany (1913).

• An older woman wanted to eat some liver and gave her daughter some money to go buy her some liver, carry it to the pond and wash it, before bringing it back to her to eat
• She went out the the marketplace and did as her mother asked, but a stork took the liver and flew away with it. 
• She asked the stork to give it back because her mother would beat her if she didn't return the liver
• The stork told her to bring him some barley and he would give her the liver
• She went to the farmer and asked for some barley, but the farmer told her that if she prayed to Allah, he would give her the barley that she needed to give the stork to get the liver to give to her mother
• When she was praying, a man came up and told her that the prayer would not be effective unless she had incense 
• She then went to the merchant and asked for incense to burn while she was praying
• The merchant then said that if she got shoes from the shoemaker that he would give her the incense
• She went to the shoemaker and asked for the shoes, but the shoemaker asked for her to bring her ox-leather in return and he would give her the shoes
• She went to the tanner and asked for the ox-leather, but the tanner asked for a hide from an ox
• The girl then went to the ox and asked for a hide
• The ox asked for straw
• She then went to the peasant and asked for straw, who asked for a kiss in return
• She kissed the peasant and he gave her the straw she asked for
• She returned all of these things to the people who asked for them and finally returned home with the liver

• I think it's clever that this story builds and that each character that the girl contacted asked for something different
• It showed her dedication to bringing the liver to her mother
• I also like the repetitiveness in the story and think its unique

 

(The girl asking the merchant for incense. Source: Turkish Fairy Tales)