Ottoman Turkish Fairytales, Series 1 "The Piece of Liver" author.. unknown

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Introduction to Ottoman Turkish Fairytales Series

When researching episodes for the Ottoman Empire Podcast.. 

I've noticed two trends: First, the prevalence of magical practices among the Empire's elite which you can read up on here➡️ Magic and the Ottoman Empire BLOGPOST⬅️  Second, the way Turkish folktales weave their way in and around every facet of society. Laughed at by day in the markets, and whispered about in fearful tones by night, Turkish folklore goes as far back as their Mongolian Steppe days. 

(Source: Gutenberg online)

Project WEBSITE TO GUTENBERG has done and amazing job of collecting works in the Public Domain and then putting them to print. Of particular note I've come across a the works of a collection called, "Turkish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales" the author is unknown, however, the works floating around in Public Domain land and those free PDFs you find online, were compiled by a guy named Dr. Ignatius Kunos. 

(Source: Library of Congress, Dr. Ignatius Kunos)

Dr. Ignatius Kunos

He traveled in the 1860s and 1870s up and around Ottoman Anatolia and spoke with Turkish peasants and collected their fairytales and paranormal stories. He was Hungarian by birth and nationality, and was fluent in Ottoman Turkish. His collection first came to the awareness of Western readers with the publication of his works in the Hungarian Literary Society in 1889. He compares "the treasures of Turkish folk-lore to precious stones lying neglected in the byways of philology for want of gleaners to gather them in, and he warns the student of ethnology that when once the threatened railroad actually invades the classic land of Anatolia, these naively poetical myths and legends will, infallibly, be the first victims of Western civilization." (Source: Turkish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales" by unknown author, compiled by the late-Ignatius Kunos 1889).

Please consider picking up a copy here and supporting ➡️Forgotten Books Publishing ⬅️

Unless otherwise noted, all source extractions are from Classic Reprint Series, "Turkish Fairy Tales and Folk Tales," unknown author, by Forgotten Books. 

The Piece of Liver 

"Once upon a time there was an old woman who felt she would very much like to have a piece of liver, so she gave a girl two or three pence, and bade her buy the liver in the market-place, wash it clean in the pond, and then bring it home. So the girl went to the market-place, bought the liver, and took it to the pond to wash it; and while she washing it a stork popped down, snatched the liver out of her hand, and flew away with it.

Then the girl cried: "Stork, stork! Give me back my liver, that I may take it to my mammy, lest my mammy beat me!"-

"If thou wilt fetch me a barley-ear instead of it, I'll give thee back they liver," said the stork. 

So the girl went to the straw-stalk, and said: "Straw-stalk, straw-stalk! Give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barely-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy." "If thou wilt pray Allah for rain, thou shalt have a little barely-ear," said the straw-stalk. 

But while she was beginning her prayer, saying "Oh Allah, give me rain, that I may give the rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barely-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy," while she was praying thus, up came a man to her and said that without a censer to prayers could ever get to heaven, so she must go to the bazaar-keeper for a censer." 

So she went to the bazaar-keeper, and cried: "Bazaar-keeper, bazaar-keeper! Give me a censer, that I may burn incense before Allah, that Allah may give me rain, that I may give rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barely-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that I may give my liver to my mammy!" 

"I'll give it thee," said the Bazaar-keeper, "if thou wilt bring me a boot from the cobbler." 

So the girl went to the cobbler and said to him," Cobbler! Cobbler! give me a boot, that I may give the boot to the bazaar-keeper, that the bazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may burn incense before Allah, that Allah may give me rain, that I may give rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barely-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back the liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy."

But the Cobbler said, "If thou fetch me a hide thou shalt have a boot for it."

So the girl went to the tanner and said: "Tanner, tanner! give me a hide, that I may give the hide to the cobbler, that the cobbler may give me a boot, that I may give the boot to the bazaar-keeper, that the bazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may burn incense for Allah, that Allah my give me rain, that I may give the rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy"

"If though wettest a hide from the ox, thou wilt get a hide fit for making a boot," said the tanner.

So the girl went to the os, and said to it: "Ox. Ox! give me a hide, that I may give the hide to the tanner, that the tanner may give me boot-later, that I may give the boot-leather to the cobbler, that the cobbler may give me a boot, that I may give the boot to the bazaar-keeper, that the bazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may burn incense for Allah, that Allah my give me rain, that I may give the rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy"

The Ox said: "If thou get me straw I'll give thee a hide for it!" 

So the girl went to the farmer, and said to him, "Farmer! Farmer! give me straw, that I may give the straw to the ox, that the ox may give me a hide, that I may give the hide to the tanner, that the tanner may give me shoe-leather, that I may give the shoe-leather to the cobbler, that the cobbler may give me a boot, that I may give the boot to the bazaar-keeper, that the bazaar-keeper may give me a censer, that I may burn incense for Allah, that Allah my give me rain, that I may give the rain to the straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barley-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy"

The farmer said to the girl: "I'll give thee the straw if thou give me a kiss"

"Well" though the girl to herself, "a kiss is but a little matter if it free me from all this bother." So she went up and kissed the farmer, and the farmer gave her straw for the kiss. She took the straw to the ox, and the ox gave her a hide for the straw. She took the hide to the tanner, and the tanner gave her shoe-leather. She took the shoe-leather to the cobbler, and the cobbler gave her a shoe for it. 

She took the shoe to the bazaar-keeper, and the bazaar-keeper gave her a censer. She lit the censer and cried: "Oh, Allah! give me rain, that I may give rain tot he straw-stalk, that the straw-stalk may give me a barely-ear, that I may give the barely-ear to the stork, that the stork may give me back my liver, that I may give the liver to my mammy." 

Then Allah gave her rain, and she gave the rain to the straw-stalk, and the straw-stalk gave her a barely-ear, and she gave the barely-ear to the stork, and the stork gave her back her liver, and she gave her liver to mammy, and her mammy cooked the liver and ate it." 

Well.... 

Thanks for making it this far. I know this selection was a bit dry and redundant, however, I promise theirs plenty more to come and are wayyyyyy more interesting. 

Thanks. 

-Frank 

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