The Stone of Destiny: Tales from Turkey by Elspeth Tavaci

Author:Elspeth Tavaci [Tavaci, Elspeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781011010
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books

All for a Wrinkled Little Pomegranate

Once there was and once there was not a long time ago a padishah of India who had a beautiful daughter called Gülsün. And in Iran a padishah who had a handsome son called Hasan.

The padishah of Iran sent an envoy to India. ‘My friend,’ he said, ‘let us marry my son to your daughter.’ The padishah of India agreed. And so the marriage was arranged.

No one had ever been to such a magnificent wedding. For forty days and forty nights there were feasts and celebrations.

Then, on the morning of the forty-first day, Prince Hasan and his bride and all her belongings left in a long procession for Iran.

On the way, Prince Hasan spotted a wrinkled little pomegranate lying by the side of the road.

‘Stop, my princess,’ he said. And while Gülsün watched, he got off his horse and bent down to pick up the pomegranate. He dusted it off, broke it open and offered half to her.

‘I can’t eat that!’ said Gülsün disdainfully. She was most offended, because she was rather proud. ‘I would never pick anything up from the roadside and eat it! And I can’t live for the rest of my life with a prince who would do such a thing.’

Then she turned her horse’s head and rode back to India.

Well, as you can imagine, Prince Hasan was surprised. And as for the padishah of Iran, he was annoyed. There on the spot he arranged an engagement between his son and another princess.

But Hasan could not forget the beautiful girl he had married. He was sure he didn’t want to marry anybody else. ‘But first,’ he said to himself, ‘I must teach her not to be so proud.’

He took off his fine clothes and put on an old shirt and some tattered trousers. Then, disguised as a gardener, he set off on the long journey for India. On the way, he let his beard grow longer and scruffier to complete his disguise. When he arrived, he went straight to the palace of the padishah.

‘Your Majesty,’ he said, ‘I am a hard-working gardener. Please let me work for you.’

The padishah liked Hasan’s manner and agreed to hire him. His visir’s servant showed Hasan to a small hut at the bottom of the garden. ‘You can live here,’ he said. ‘There’s a straw mat for you to sleep on, and you can eat your meals in the palace kitchen.’

The prince, who was fond of gardening, went to work immediately, and he did indeed prove himself to be a fine gardener. Soon the garden became a magical place.

Even the princess noticed the change in the garden and she began to spend more time there.

One day, Hasan was singing to himself as she walked there, and he made sure that she heard his song.

‘If you love roses, a beauty you must be.

Smile, my princess, so my luck will smile on me.

Oh, don’t be cross, fair princess, if I tell you

the name of my sweetheart is Gülsün too.

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