Folklore of Kürse Village (7): Legends and Riddles

Legends

Kesikbaş

Here, too, I am recounting two tales told in the village as legends, both of which relate to the names of hills.

On the eastern side of the village, near the village of Gökçeören, there is a hill known as ‘Memedelen’. According to a rumour widely circulated amongst the locals, the name of this hill derives from an incident that took place here. As the story goes, two very close friends, Ahmet and Mehmet, from one of the neighbouring villages, were both in love with the same girl. The girl, however, could not choose between the two young men. Because of this girl, who gave hope to both young men, the two close friends became enemies. And on this hill, Ahmet killed Mehmet by cutting off his head. Mehmet’s severed head rolled down the hill, which is a high peak.

It is said that, from that day to this, on the anniversary of his death, Mehmet’s severed head rolls from hill to hill one night, wailing as it goes. Indeed, elderly shepherds recount that they, too, have heard the wailing of this severed head.

The name of the hill, originally ‘Mehmet Ölen’ (where Mehmet died), has since changed to ‘Memedelen’. Today, it is commonly referred to as ‘Mehmedelen Hill’ amongst the people, though the elderly who know this story still call it ‘Mehmet Ölen Bayırı’.

The Bloody Pear Tree

In the section known as Darıçukuru, situated on the southern boundary of the village pasture, there was a large pear tree (which has been cut down in recent years). This pear tree was known as the ‘bloody pear’, and the area around it was consequently called ‘the bloody pear’s side’.

According to the tale, many years ago, a young bride from the nearby village of Gökçeören fell in love with a man from another neighbouring village. The two young lovers eloped and began living together. This greatly angered the bride’s husband and father. Encouraged by the bride’s father, her husband forcibly brought her back from the village where she was staying; on the way, he beheaded her beneath this pear tree and then hung her from it. Ever since that day, this tree has been known as the ‘bloody pear’.

According to another rumour, it was not her husband but her father—or, according to some, her brother—who killed the young bride. Some say, however, that she was hanged without being killed first. According to yet other accounts, her brother, unable to satisfy his vengeance after killing her, dismembered her and scattered her remains over the tree.

It is also said in connection with this legend that, after the bride was killed, her mother came there day after day to wail and weep. A young shepherd from the village — who has since grown old and passed away — heard the woman’s weeping and, with his flute, mimicked her laments and sobs. The woman heard the young man playing the flute and was very taken with it. Although she called out to the shepherd, saying, ‘My son, come and play for me too,’ the young shepherd hesitated to go, fearing she might beat him for imitating her. (The shepherd in question was a man from the village known as Blind Ali). Today, that shepherd is known as Ahmet Avcı (Âşık Ahmet), who uses his flute to echo the woman’s weeping and laments. He recounts this tale whilst playing its poignant melody on his flute with deep feeling.

A Little Story

When God was distributing provisions, it was said to the imam when his turn came: ‘Let your portion also come from your flock.’ That is why, in the old days, imams used to be fed by the people. The old custom in villages known as ‘konak’ (where each household took turns preparing and sending a meal to the village imam for one day) is said to have originated from this.

Riddles

• Six marble, top marble, a bride dances inside. (Tongue)
• Six marble, top marble, inside is Yörük Ömer. (Turtle)
• It falls onto the bush without a sound. (Sun)
• A tiny little barrel, full of pickles. (Lemon)
• It cannot be bought at the market, nor placed in a handkerchief; nothing sweeter than it exists. (Sleep)
• The bride leaned against the window; the window was stained with blood. (Pomegranate)
• If you cook it, it becomes a meal; if you don’t, it becomes a bird. (Egg)
• Wood beneath, wood above, a yellow scholar inside. (Almond)
• It comes from the mountain, it comes from the rock, it comes from your uncle with his bare bum. (Goat)
• Its field is white, its seed is black; it is sown by hand, reaped by the tongue. (Paper, ink, writing, reading)
• They hollow out the pine tree, put a cuckoo inside; ‘Don’t cry, cuckoo, don’t cry,’ they twist its ear. (Clock)
• God creates its structure; His servants open its door. (Watermelon, melon)
• It is made of stone and iron, its heart is made of dough; it feeds the whole world, yet it never fills itself. I wonder why this
  is so. (Mill)
• Layer upon layer, yet not a pastry; red, yet not an apple. (Onion)
• I’ve put a dry skull on the shelf; it’s sweet to eat, with a monkey’s face. (Walnut)
• Snow falls from a low hill. (Sifting flour through a sieve)
• Short in stature, clad in velvet. (Aubergine)
• I have an ox; it never gets its fill. (Stove)
• I’ve got an ox; when it opens its mouth, you can see its lungs. (Stove)
• A locked chest on a branch. (Almond)
• A riddle, a riddle, a word that slips off the tongue. (Saliva)
• A riddle, a riddle, sliding off the hand. (Soap)
• It fits in my palm, but won’t fit in a chest. (Üğrende = animal whip)
• Fairy tale, fairy tale, who is it that smothers you? (Quilt)
• I go, it goes, it clatters in front of me. (Cane)
• A greasy strap underground. (Snake)
• A locked chest underground. (Grave)
• A chicken with chicks underground. (Potato)
• Stone beneath, stone above, a thousand and one heads within. (Bathhouse)
• A mallet with seven holes; a fool is he who cannot guess this. (Head)
• A tiny grave travels the world. (Shoe)
• I have a daughter, she has a mouth but no tongue. She never says ‘I won’t eat whatever you give me’, and she has no coat to her name. (Stove)
• A rustling sound above the door. (Moustache)
• A tap here, a tap there, a tap behind the door. (Broom)
• A piggy bank with a tail, carrying grain to the granary. (Spoon)
• Tinton in the stream, tinton on the hill, tinton without a thread, tinton without a bone. (Ant)
• A tiny little tray. (Lentil)
• I looked from afar, slice by slice; I went over to it, a black rug. (Field)
• I looked from afar and saw many; I went up close and found none. (Flock of birds)
• The chest opened, the hazelnuts spilled out. (Goat dung)
• A tickle plays inside a hairy sack. (Eye)
• We were buzzing, buzzing, buzzing; we were thirty-two girls. Winter came and we were crushed; summer came and we revived. (Fly)
• Half a spoon, stuck to the wall. (Ear)
• Hirt, mirt, seven huge wolves devoured Joseph. (Saw)
• As big as a hand, it brings a pig down from the mountain. (Comb, louse)
• O turkey, turkey, a miracle fell from the ceiling; the host climbed onto the guest. (Quilt)
• A shallow well rumbles with water. (Churn)
• Pomegranate seed by seed, snow up to the knees; the partridge flew away, the beauty remained. (Straw and wheat)
• It’s wise and refined, found in every meal; it’s a fellow with a hairy nose. (Onion)
• It opened its hairy mouth; the naked one fled inside. (Cloak, sock and foot)
• It weighs a kantar of gold in meat. (Ear and earring)
• Shapıldayık
  , Mışıldayık
  , Fıldırdayık
  , Crooked mountain
  , Flat plain
  , Sturdy branch
  , Tiny pig. (Head and head organs: mouth, nose, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, hair and head lice)
• It comes down from the mountain, its eyes are round, its legs are spindly, its belly is plump. (Turtle)
• I leapt from the courtyard, my headscarf fell; I picked up my headscarf, and day broke. (Hoarfrost)
• It leapt from the courtyard and laid an egg on the other side. (Courgette)
• A fish in the water, its tip burnt. (Gas lamp)
• Clink, clink, the bathhouse; its earring is complete. I took a girl; her father is an imam. (Clock)
• I went up to the hilltop, I put a halter on the foal. (Needle)
• It comes from the mountain,
  I’ll catch it.
  Between
  two stones, Korina, Kırina (Flea)
• It’s yellow like saffron, read like the Qur’an. Either you’ll know this, or you’ll die tonight. (Gold)
• Forty pumpkin leaves, the soil of a saint. Either you’ll know this, or you’ll die tonight. (Qur’an)
• Layer upon layer of bedding—the donkey who cannot guess this. (Cabbage)
• Water from a deep well;
  he who draws it does not die, but he who drinks it does. (Rifle)
• Rice has been cooked in Istanbul; its scent has reached us here. (Letter)
• A tray beneath my leg,
  a spindle on top of the tray,
  a spindle on top of the spindle,
  a spindle on top of the spindle. (Öreke = a device for spinning thread)
• The spindle goes this way,
  the spindle goes that way;
  the spindle neither eats nor drinks,
  yet its belly swells. (Eli = Spindle, a tool for spinning thread)
• Two heads, eight legs,
  top of wood, bottom of stone,
  Round and round it goes. (Threshing with an animal)
• Slice by slice, pomegranate (bunch)
• Snow up to the knees (Threshing floor)
• The partridge has flown (Straw)
• The beauty has fallen (Grain)

All episodes of the series

1. Foreword and Introduction to the Village
2. Customs relating to birth and children
3. Folk Medicine
4. Superstitions and Folk Meteorology
5. Proverbs, Blessings and Curses
6. Folk Songs, Lamentations and Nursery Rhymes
7. Legends and Riddles
8. Fairy Tales
9. Rhymes and Ramadan Rhymes

Traditions and Customs page