Keloğlan And His Mother

  Alparslan,Cemil Meric Middle School

“Once upon a time, once upon a time, once upon a time, there lived in one of the villages a Keloğlan and his mother. His mother wore her hair in a broom and earned her daily bread by working here and there. Her son, Keloğlan, was lazy. He would not do anything all day long, he would sit idly or lie in bed. The woman realized that this was not going to happen!

“My bald son, my bald son, everyone's son is taking care of their mothers. Go and work, earn money...” and she baked bread for her son and sent him on his way.

Keloğlan sees a shepherd grazing his flocks on the slope of a hill.

After exchanging pleasantries:

“Keep my bread. Up to 3 days I have come, if I have not come, let it be forgiven” and he leaves. When he came back, he saw the shepherd eating his bread:

“I will go to this side, I will go to that side. 

He says, “I will run away as soon as I get the sheep” and runs away with the sheep in his arms. Soon he comes across a caravan on the road. He gives the sheep to the head of the caravan and says that if he does not come in 3 days, it will be theirs and leaves. When he returned, Keloğlan saw that the sheep was gone and became angry:

“I'll go this way, I'll go that way,

I'll take your carpets and run away.”

So he takes the carpets and runs away. After walking over the hills, he comes to a village. What does he see? Everyone is laughing and having fun, drums and zurnas are being played. Learning that it was a wedding ceremony, Keloğlan entrusted the carpets to the wedding owner and said, “If I don't come back in 3 days, good-bye” and disappeared. When he comes back and cannot find the carpets, he gets angry:

“I'll pass by this side, I'll pass by that side, I'll run away as soon as I take your bride”, and he takes the bride by the hand and comes to his village by crossing the roads and hills. After reaching their house, his daughter-in-law leaned against the door and said to her mother:

- “Mother, Keloğlun has brought you a bride. Go and let him kiss her hand and skirt” and sends her to the bride. When the woman opened the veil of the bride, what did she see! Isn't there a pumpkin with carved eyebrows and eyes, decorated and adorned!

It turns out that every year in that village, when it was in season, pumpkin festivals were held and fun was had. His mother grabbed the bride and threw it at Keloğlan's head, beating him up. The gourd shattered on Keloğlan's head...

They stayed there; may they sweep away their pleasures and attain their ends.”

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)