World Fairy Tales

THE SILENT PRINCESS (Turkey 🇹🇷)

"The Silent Princess" is a captivating Turkish fairy tale that follows the story of a princess who could not speak. The tale is rich with Turkish cultural elements and presents a compelling narrative that has fascinated readers for generations.

Let's Read;

There was once a Padishah who had a son, and the little Prince had a golden ball with which he was never tired of playing. One day as he sat in his kiosk, playing as usual with his favourite toy, an old woman came to draw water from the spring which bubbled up in front of the mansion.

The Shahzada, merely for a jest, threw his ball at the old woman” 's jug and broke it. Without a word, she fetched another jug and came again to the spring. For the second time, the Prince threw his ball at the jug and broke it. The old woman was now angry, yet, fearing the Padishah, she dared not say a word, but went away and bought a third jug on credit, as she had no money. Returning a third time to the spring, she was in the very act of drawing water when again the young Prince” 's ball struck her jug and shattered it to pieces. Her anger could no longer be suppressed, and, turning to ward the Shahzada, she cried: “I will say only this, my Prince: may you fall in love with the Silent Princess.” With these words, she went her way.

The Prince ere long found himself brooding on the old dame” 's words and wondering what they could mean. The more he dwelt upon them the more they took possession of his mind until his health began to suffer; he grew thin and pale, he had no appetite, and in a few days, he was so ill that he had to remain in bed. The Padishah could not understand his son” 's malady; physicians and hodjas were summoned, but none could do any good.

One day the Padishah asked his son whether he could throw any light on the strange complaint from which he was suffering. Then the boy described how three times in succession he had broken an old woman” 's jug and related what she had said to him, finally expressing his conviction that neither physicians nor hodjas could affect his cure. He asked his father” 's permission to set out in quest of the Silent Princess, for he felt that only in this way could he be freed from his affliction. The Padishah saw that the boy would not live long unless his mysterious disease was cured; so, after considerable hesitation, he gave his permission and appointed his lala to accompany the young Prince on his journey.

Toward evening they set out and as they took no care of their appearance, in six months they looked more like wild savages than a noble prince and his lala. They had quite forgotten rest and sleep; the thought of eating and drinking never occurred to them. At last, they arrived at the summit of a mountain. Here they noticed that the rocks and earth glistened like the sun. Looking around, they saw that an old man approached them. The travelers inquired about the name of that region. The old man informed them that they stood on the mountain of the Silent Princess. The Princess herself wore a sevenfold veil, but that fact notwithstanding, the glitter they observed around them was caused by the extraordinary brilliance of her countenance. The travelers now inquired where the Princess resided. The old man answered that if they proceeded straight on for six months longer they would reach her serai. Hitherto many men had lost their lives in vain attempts to elicit a word from the Princess. This news, however, did not dismay the Prince, who with his lala again set off on the journey.

After long wanderings, they found themselves at the summit of another mountain, which they noticed was blood-red on every side. Going forward, they presently entered a village. Here the Prince said to his lala “I am very tired; let us rest a while in this place and at the same time make some inquiries.” Accordingly, they entered a coffeehouse, and when it became known in the village that travelers from a distant land were in their midst the inhabitants came up one after the other to offer their greetings. The Prince inquired of them why the mountain was blood-red. He was informed that three months” journey distant lived the Silent Princess, whose red lips reflected their hue on the mountain before them; she wore seven veils, spoke not a word, and it was said that many men had sacrificed their lives on her account. On hearing this the youth was impatient to put his fate to the test; he and his lala accordingly set out to continue their journey.