Keloglan and the Giant

                                                 ELİF NİL, ŞERİF REMZİ ORTAOKULU

Keloglan and the Giant

Once upon a time, in the days when camels were town criers and fleas were barbers, back when I was rocking in my mother's cradle, there was a small town in a certain country. In a humble hut on the outskirts of this town lived a very poor boy named Keloglan and his elderly mother.

Although Keloglan was smart and skillful, he didn’t like to work. He preferred to sit around lazily, eat whatever he could find, and sleep all day. Because he was lazy and had a bald head, everyone called him Keloglan, which means “bald boy.”

His elderly mother worked hard, washing clothes by hand to feed both herself and her lazy son. They lived in hardship and poverty.

One day, Keloglan suddenly felt like going to the market. As he wandered around, he noticed a crowd gathering. In the middle of the crowd, a man was shouting something, and everyone was listening attentively.

Curious, Keloglan squeezed into the crowd to hear what was being said. The man turned out to be one of the town criers. He was announcing:

"A strong man is needed for a difficult task. Whoever completes it will be rewarded with one hundred gold coins. Step forward if you're interested!"

When Keloglan saw that no one else was volunteering, and upon hearing the reward was one hundred gold coins, he stepped forward and said:

"I'll do it! But tell me what the task is."

The town crier looked him up and down and said:

"Son, this task is very hard. Only smart, brave, and capable men can handle it. I don’t see those qualities in you."

Keloglan replied confidently:

"Never underestimate someone just by looking at them. I can do it!"

The crowd laughed mockingly, but the crier, feeling a bit sorry for the poor boy, agreed and explained:

"You’ll travel to a faraway land to bring back goods. It will be a long journey on horseback. Can you handle that?"

Keloglan answered:

"If I say I can do it, then I can! Of course I can handle it."

The town crier asked:

"Do you want your payment now or after the task?"

Keloglan replied:

"Give me some now for the road, and I’ll leave the rest with my mother."

So they made a deal. Keloglan joyfully ran home, gave his mother part of the money, and set off for his task.

At the meeting point, he saw the caravan was ready and waiting for him. When asked if he was ready, he said yes, and the caravan set off at once.

They traveled for two days without rest. By the third day, Keloglan’s whole body ached from riding, but he endured it, thinking of the reward and his promise.

As evening approached, the caravan leader called for a break. Keloglan was relieved to rest. But his rest didn’t last long. After tying up the horses, the caravan leader called him over and pointed to a well:

"You see that well? You’ll go down into it. You’re not afraid, are you?"

Keloglan walked to the well, looked inside, and said:

"There’s nothing to be afraid of. Of course I’ll go down."

Though he was scared, he tried not to show it. The others tied a thick rope around his waist and lowered him into the well.

When he was halfway down, a door suddenly opened in the wall of the well. A man grabbed Keloglan and pulled him inside.

As he recovered from the shock, Keloglan looked around and saw a large garden with a grand palace in the center. In the garden, among the roses, sat a beautiful girl. Behind her stood a large, dark-skinned man with lips so big that one touched the ground and the other touched the sky. A peacock strolled among the flowers.

Just as Keloglan was admiring the scene, a booming voice behind him made him jump. He turned around—and there stood a giant!

The giant growled:

"Hey human! Tell me, what do you find the most beautiful among what you see?"

Keloglan trembled in fear, unsure of how to respond. Then, after a moment’s thought, he said:

"My lord, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Whatever the heart loves is the most beautiful."

The giant seemed pleased and asked another question:

"That girl is beautiful, the peacock is lovely, but the black man is ugly. What do you say to that?"

By now, Keloglan had calmed down. He gave the same answer:

"Whatever the heart loves is beautiful, my lord."

The giant was very pleased with Keloglan’s clever response and said:

"You seem like a smart boy," and gave him three large pomegranates from a nearby tree.

"Take these and eat them with your mother," the giant said and left.

You see, the giant asked every person who came down the well these questions. If he didn’t like their answer, he would cut off their heads and eat their flesh. Then he’d hang their skulls on the palace walls. Most people would praise the girl or the peacock and would never come back out of the well.

After the giant left, Keloglan made his way back to the door. As he was wondering how to get back up, he saw a bucket being lowered to fetch water. He grabbed hold of it and was pulled out.

When his fellow travelers saw Keloglan come out alive and smiling, they were shocked. They stared in disbelief.

The caravan leader said:

"None of the others we’ve lowered into that well ever returned. How did you manage it, son?"

Keloglan replied with a smile:

"Doesn’t matter how—I just did. That’s what matters."

They continued the journey and finally reached the faraway land. After loading the goods onto the horses, they returned home.

When Keloglan arrived, he found his mother, as always, washing clothes by hand. She was overjoyed to see him.

After dinner, Keloglan took one of the pomegranates the giant had given him and split it open. To his amazement, each seed inside was a sparkling jewel!

Realizing their value, Keloglan sold them little by little and became incredibly rich. From that day on, he was no longer poor, no longer bald or ugly, and his mother no longer had to wash clothes.

They lived happily ever after.