İngilizce Kısa Hikayeler - Türkçe Tercümeli

Serdar Yıld · 04-18-2011

KIRLANGIÇ İLE SERÇE

Kırlangıç ile serçe dost olmuşlar. Birlikte gezip dolaşmaya başlamışlar. Diğer kırlangıçlar önceleri bu duruma ses çıkarmamışlar. Fakat kırlangıç serçeyi yuvasına getirmeye başlayınca işler değişmiş. Kırlangıcın yuvası ahşap, boş bir evin saçak altındaymış ve burada pek çok kırlangıç yuvası varmış. Serçenin gelip gitmesi, kırlangıçları rahatsız etmiş.

Kırlangıçlar toplanıp bir sözcü seçmişler. Sözcü uygun bir zamanda kırlangıca konuyu açmış ve serçeyi yuvasına getirmemesini söylemiş.

Kırlangıç biraz direttiyse de sonunda genel isteğe boyun eğmek zorunda kalmış. Bir gece serçe yuvasında uyurken aniden uyanmış. Dalları arasına yuva kurduğu ağaç sallanıyormuş. Uçup çevreyi şöyle bir kolaçan etmiş. O zaman bunun bir yer sarsıntısı olduğunu anlamış.

Aklına dostu kırlangıç gelmiş. Kırlangıcın yuvasına gitmiş, onu uyandırmış. Kırlangıca diğer kırlangıçları uyandırmasını, ahşap evin sarsıntıdan yıkılabileceğini söylemiş. Kırlangıç söyleneni yapmış. Son kırlangıç da kaçınca ahşap ev yıkılmış. Daha sonra kırlangıçlar başka bir evin saçak altına yeni yuvalar yapmışlar ve yaşamlarını borçlu oldukları dost serçenin kırlangıcın yuvasına gelip gitmesine karşı çıkmamışlar.

POOR AHMET

Ahmet’s mother and father were poor. They were living in a small house with only one room. Since his father’s lungs were ill, he compulsorily retired. Ahmet finished primary school in difficulty by selling pretzel out of school time. Later by the help of his neighbour he started to work in a restaurant to do the washing up. Ahmet had taken the first step to realize his dreams. He had met the wonderful meals which he formerly used to see behind the restaurant windows. Now he had full three courses a day. He had kept Uncle Veli, who was cooking in the restaurant, observing. He would learn cooking from him and he would be a cook himself, too but Ahmet would work not in somebody else’s restaurant but in his own one.

Ahmet opened a restaurant in the city centre after he had done his military service. Because his meals were very delicious, the restaurant was full of customers. He was earning well. Sometimes poor people used to come to the restaurant and eat free meal.

The waiters working in the restaurant and the customers couldn’t find any sense of Ahmet’s going and leaving two plates of meals to an empty table during lunch times. How would they know that they were Ahmet’s present to his mother and father, whom the poverty had finished years ago? They also wouldn’t be able to hear that while putting the plates on the table Ahmet was murmuring “you aren’t going stay hungry any more from now on mummy and daddy. Have your meals and get yourself very full.”

FAKİR AHMET

Annesi, babası fakirdi Ahmet’in. Tek göz odalı bir gecekonduda oturuyorlardı. Babasının ciğerleri hasta olduğundan zorunlu emekliye ayrılmıştı. Ahmet okul olmadığı zamanlar simit satarak zorlukla ilkokulu bitirdi. Daha sonra komşusunun yardımıyla bir lokantaya bulaşıkçı olarak girdi. Ahmet hayalini gerçekleştirmek için ilk adımını atmıştı. Eskiden lokantaların camları arkasında gördüğü o güzelim yemeklere kavuşmuştu. Artık günde üç öğün karnı doyuyordu. Lokantada yemek pişiren Veli dayıyı göz hapsine almıştı. Ondan yemek yapmayı öğrenecek ve kendi de bir aşçı olacaktı ama Ahmet başkasının lokantasında değil kendi lokantasında görevini yerine getirecekti.

Ahmet askerden geldikten sonra şehrin mevki yerinde lokanta açtı. Yaptığı yemekler çok lezzetli olduğu için lokanta müşterilerle dolup taşıyordu. Kazancı yerindeydi. Ara sıra muhtaç insanlar lokantaya gelirdi ve bedava yemek yerlerdi.

Lokantada çalışan garsonlar ve müşteriler Ahmet’in öğle vakitleri boş bir masaya giderek masanın üstüne iki tabak yemek bırakmasına bir anlam veremezlerdi. Onlar ne bileceklerdi yıllar önce sefaletin bitirdiği anne ve babasına Ahmet’in armağanını. Hem onlar duyamazlardı ki, tabakları masanın üstüne bırakırken Ahmet’in “ Bundan sonra aç kalmayacaksınız anneciğim ve babacığım. Alın yemeklerinizi karnınızı bir güzel doyurun “ diye mırıldandığını.

RABBIT

There was a rabbit imagining itself like a lion. One day this rabbit convened all rabbits in the vicinity on a high hill and said them that it would frighten wolf, jackal, fox in the case they would pass through the rough path in the downstairs. Rabbits listened to it with no movement.

Ten minutes later, a wolf was passing through this path and it was suddenly surprised to see a rabbit shouting and running toward itself, and this circumstance caused it to frighten, and it urgently run away and disappeared there.

TAVŞAN

Tavşanın biri kendini aslan zannedermiş. Bir gün bu tavşan civardaki tavşanları yüksekçe bir tepeye toplayıp aşağıdaki patika yoldan kurt, çakal, tilki geçmesi halinde korkutup kaçıracağını söylemiş. Tavşanlar, onu sakin şekilde dinlemişler.

On dakika sonra bir kurt geçiyormuş ki, bir de ne görsün, bağırıp çağırarak üstüne doludizgin gelen tavşanı görünce ürkmüş ve son sürat oradan kaçmış.

FOX

There was a fox hanging wings on it and stealing hens from poultry-houses upper sides of which were uncovered. Once poultry-house owner recognised this circumstance, they covered upper-sides of them.

A fox never likes being hungry and remaining with no remedy. It learnt soil digging work from one mole and started entering into poultry-houses through underground. Poultry-house owners thought that mole was stealing the hens and always hoped to catch a mole.

TİLKİ

Tilkinin biri kanat takıp üstü açık kümeslerden tavuk çalarmış. Kümes sahipleri durumu fark edince kümeslerin üstünü kapatmışlar.

Tilki açlığı ve çaresizliği hiç sevmezmiş. Bir köstebekten toprak kazma işini öğrenip, yeraltından kümeslere girmeye başlamış. Kümes sahipleri tavukları çalanın köstebek olduğunu sanıp, hep bir köstebek yakalamayı ummuşlar.

JACKAL

One of the jackals found a rifle while it was walking in the jungle. It recognised there were two cartridge in the rifle, and it immediately started robberies. Animals in
the jungle, properties of which were stolen and were under threat convened and they arrived before lion.The lion was informed about the circumstance and this made it very angry and thereafter, it followed the jackal around.

The lion seeing the jackal to walk some ahead has roared. The jackalpointed its gun at it when it saw that the lion was approaching, and immediately before opening fire, the lion frightened and started running away. Thereupon, the jackal run after the lion, too. Just then, a river appeared in front of them. Both of them swam and crossed the river.The lion run a while and then suddenly stopped running. The jackal stopped as well. The lion turned back and walked over the jackal.

The jackal realized that wet rifle did not open fire and thrown the rifle out and it crossed back the river. The lion followed the jackal.The lion chased the jackal for a long time in the jungle, and it hit a fiston it as soon as caught it. The jackal escaped with great difficulty its life from the lion. From then, no body has seen it in the surrounding.

ÇAKAL

Çakalın biri ormanda gezerken bir tüfek bulmuş. Bakmış tüfekte iki fişek var, hemen soygunlara başlamış. Malı çalınan, tehdit edilen orman hayvanları toplanıp aslanın huzuruna çıkmışlar. Durumu öğrenen aslan çok kızmış, çakalın peşine düşmüş.

Çakalı ilerde giderken gören aslan kükremiş. Çakal aslanın geldiğini görünce tüfeğini doğrultmuş, tam ateş edecekken aslan korkmuş, kaçmaya başlamış. Çakal da aslanı kovalamış. Derken, önlerine bir ırmak çıkmış. Ikisi de yüzerek karşıya geçmiş. Aslan biraz daha koşmuş, sonra aniden duruvermiş. Çakal da durmuş. Aslan geri dönüp çakalın üstüne yürümüş.

Çakal ıslanan tüfeğin ateş etmediğini görünce tüfeği atıp ırmaktan karşıya geçmiş. Aslan da peşinden gelmiş. Aslan çakalı ormanda uzun süre kovalamış, yetiştiği yerde vurmuş. Çakal güçbela canını kurtarmış. Bir daha onu oralarda gören olmamış.

THE FROGLET

A froglet living in a pond, which was in a heavily forested area, was complaining about not having any friends. This froglet spent most of his time swimming in the pond, sometimes he got out of the water and strolled on the grass by jumping. Every day was completely the same as the former day. Every day the same thing, the same things. The endless monotony made him tired. One day the froglet got angry with himself.

“As if you were curious to spend all your life in this pond! Is the world as small as you thought? Is the world as tiny as it seems? Why don’t you save yourself, leave and go from here? If you say the world is this pond where you live, know that you are not a frog of this world; you are a frog of completely different worlds. Never forget this: You will reach the life you desire only when you go away from this pond.”

The froglet made up his mind at that moment. He would leave here and set out, would look for friends for himself in the places he would go. The froglet moved forward in the forest for days. Finally the dense trees of the forest became sparse, and he reached a little flat place. He immediately saw a bright thing on the ground. What on earth was that? He was surprised when he looked at the bright thing. There was a frog in that and that frog was looking at him, too. He returned and hid behind a stone. After he got over his first bewilderment, he realized that this bright thing was so slim that there couldn’t be any frog or anything like that in it. Then the situation was clearly obvious: The bright thing must have been a mirror and he had seen himself in it. He took the mirror and leant it on the edge of a tree nearby. He started to do all sorts of amusing things standing in front of the mirror. Sometimes he stood on his two feet, sometimes he jumped, and sometimes he took a deep breath and watched his image in the mirror while blowing out his chest and cheeks. What he liked best of all these motions was seeing himself looking huge in the mirror. He started to take deeper breaths and to seem huger. Finally, such a time came that the froglet become as round as a ball and he realized that he was off the ground and rising.

The froglet acted as if nothing had happened. He breathed out a little when he had risen nearly ten metres of the ground. It was unnecessary to rise any more. He was not a bird to flap his wings, to rise into the sky, to fly as high as he possibly could. He was just a little froglet. It was said that it was not possible that frogs could fly; it was like a dream but real. He was already flying. He looked around haphazardly. He looked in all directions. He had come from the forest, so he would go back that way. He stretched his front right left in the direction he wanted to go in an automatic motion. Amazing!... He had suddenly turned to face the way he wanted to go. Although he had turned, he was still floating motionless. He suddenly remembered that he used his back legs to move forward in water. He pulled his back legs slowly to his chest, pushed them backwards, pulled, and pushed. What he had thought was completely right. He was able to move forward. He would be able to move forward as much as he wanted to, would be able to go down wherever he wanted.

After flying a while the froglet noticed an old frog lying at full length near a river. He thought “the old frog must have an illness”.

“Because no frog lies in the open like this. If he lies, it means that he is inviting danger. Let’s go down and have a look what his problem is.”

This meadowland where the old frog had fallen and stayed was a picnic area. People used to spend their weekends here on sunny summer days and have picnics. Someone who wasn’t in his right mind had drunk what was in a bottle he had brought with him, and had thrown and broken the bottle while going. So the old frog had injured his foot when he stepped on a piece of the broken bottle and had fainted because he couldn’t endure the pain any more. When the old frog regained consciousness, he told the things that had happened and wanted the froglet to help him.

After the froglet said:

“Sir, I have never faced a situation like this before. That piece of glass must be taken out of your foot. I can’t do this, but while I was coming I saw two children fishing further down the river. I will go and call them, they may help you”, and he went away jumping.

When the froglet came near the children, he said:

“Could you help, please? An old frog has been injured and is lying over there. Please come with me and help him, save him. It is a good thing to do kind deeds. Come on children, stand up please, and come with me”

The children succumbed to the froglet’s entreaties, took their fishing lines out of water, put them aside and followed the froglet. After a short while the piece of glass had been taken out of the old frog’s foot and the injured part had been covered with a clean cloth.

After the children went, the froglet acted as a crutch for the old frog and brought him to a quiet and secluded place. After the old frog had thanked the froglet for the things he did, he said:

“I wonder if they would listen to me if I called out to all living things to be good, as good deeds are very few and far between. For some reason or other everybody continues a never ending race by saying let’s do him/her harm, hit him/her first before another one does me harm. Let’s give up this meaningless evil race, let’s become like brothers, cooperate and run towards happiness. I am fed up with seeing evil, getting sad and crying all the time” and when he finished his words he started crying. The old frog’s crying caused the froglet to shake.

“Stop crying now old frog, wipe off your tears. We will behave like we are brothers from now on. So evil things are and everyone tries hard to become the first in this race. Therefore I’ve started a race of goodness against that from now on. I will travel all over the world soon and I will tell all the livings things about goodness and also make them participate in this race. The flag of goodness will wave on the flagpole forever.”

The froglet trusted himself a lot. If you asked why - because he had a big advantage. How quickly you have forgotten, he was able to fly you know! Travelling intercontinental was a piece of cake for him.

KURBAĞACIK

Ormanlık bir bölgede bulunan bir su birikintisinde yaşamakta olan kurbağacık hiç arkadaşı olmadığından yakınıyordu. Bu kurbağacık vaktinin çoğunu su birikintisinde yüzerek geçiriyor, bazen de sudan çıkıp, çimenlerin üstünde zıplayarak geziniyordu. Her gün bir önceki günün tıpatıp benzeriydi.Her gün aynı şey, hep aynı şeyler. Bitmek tükenmek bilmeyen bir tekdüzelik kurbağacığı canından bezdirmişti. Kurbağacık bir gün kızdı kendine:

“ Sanki bütün ömrünü bu su birikintisinde geçirmeye pek meraklısın.. Dünya senin zannettiğin kadarcık mı sanki? Dünya bu kadar küçücük mü sanki? Neden kurtarmazsın kendini buradan, çekip gitmezsin buralardan? Eğer sen bu yaşadığın su birikintisine dünya diyorsan, bil ki, sen bu dünyanın değil, bambaşka dünyaların kurbağasısın..Şunu hiç aklından çıkarma: Arzuladığın yaşama ancak bu su birikintisinden uzaklaşarak kavuşacaksın..”

Kurbağacık hemen o anda kararını verdi. Buradan ayrılarak yola çıkacak, gideceği yerlerde kendine arkadaş arayacaktı. Kurbağacık ormanda günlerce yol aldı. Artık ormanın sık ağaçları seyrekleşmiş, küçük bir düzlüğe çıkmıştı.Birden yerde parlak bir şey gördü.Bu da neydi böyle? Parlak şeye baktığında çok şaşırdı. Bunun içinde bir kurbağa vardı ve o kurbağa da kendisine bakıyordu. Geriye dönüp, bir taşın arkasına saklandı. İlk şaşkınlığı geçtikten sonra bu parlak şeyin çok ince olduğunu ve içinde kurbağa falan olamayacağını anladı. O zaman durum apaçık ortadaydı: Parlak şey ayna olmalıydı ve aynada kendini görmüştü. Kurbağacık aynayı alarak yakındaki bir ağacın kenarına kenarına yasladı. Aynanın karşısına geçerek türlü şaklabanlıklar yapmaya başladı. Bazen iki ayağı üstünde doğruluyor, bazen zıplıyor, bazen de derin nefes alıp göğsünü, yanaklarını şişirerek aynadaki aksini seyrediyordu. Bu hareketlerin içinde en hoşuna giden, aynada kendini iri görmek olmuştu. Gittikçe daha derin nefes alarak daha iri gözükmeye başladı. Sonunda, öyle bir an geldi ki, kurbağacık yusyuvarlak oldu ve ayaklarının yerden kesilip yükselmeye başladığını fark etti.

Kurbağacık hiç bozuntuya vermedi. Yerden on metre kadar yükselince ağzından biraz hava bıraktı. Daha fazla yükselmek gereksizdi.Her işte her şey seviye seviyeydi. Seviyesinin dozunu tam olarak ayarlamalıydı. Bir kuş değildi ki o, çırpsın kanatlarını, yükselsin gökyüzüne, uçsun uçabildiğince..Nereden baksan bir küçük kurbağacıktı. Olmaz denirdi, kurbağalar uçamaz denirdi, hayal gibiydi ama gerçekti. Uçuyordu işte. Kurbağacık şöyle bir etrafına bakındı. Yön tayini yaptı. Ormandan gelmiş, şu tarafa gidecekti. Sağ ön ayağını gideceği tarafa doğru mihaniki bir hareketle uzattı. Hayret!..Gitmek istediği tarafa dönüvermişti. Döndü iyi de hala havada hareketsiz duruyordu. Birden suda arka ayaklarını ileri gitmek için kullandığını hatırladı. Arka ayaklarını yavaş yavaş göğsüne çekti, geriye doğru bıraktı, çekti, bıraktı. Düşündüğü tastamam olmuştu. İlerleyebiliyordu. Artık canının istediği kadar gidip, istediği yerde de aşağı inebilecekti.

Kurbağacık bir süre uçtuktan sonra bir dere kenarında boylu boyunca uzanmış yatmakta olan yaşlı kurbağayı fark etti. ‘ Mutlaka bir rahatsızlığı vardır yaşlı kurbağanın ‘ diye düşündü.
‘ Çünkü hiçbir kurbağa böylesine açıkta yatmaz. Eğer yatarsa bu onun tehlikelere davetiye çıkartması anlamına gelir. İnip bakayım nesi varmış yaşlı kurbağanın. ‘

Yaşlı kurbağanın düşüp kaldığı bu çayırlık bir mesire yeriydi. İnsanlar günlük güneşlik yaz günlerinde hafta sonlarını burada geçirirler, piknik yaparlardı. Bir kendini bilmez yanında getirdiği şişenin içindekini içmiş, giderken de atmış şişeyi kırmıştı. İşte yaşlı kurbağa önündeki bu kırık şişenin bir parçasına basınca ayağından yaralanmış ve canının çok acımasına dayanamayarak bayılmıştı. Yaşlı kurbağa kendine geldikten sonra olanları kurbağacığa anlattı ve yardım etmesini istedi.

Kurbağacık:

“ Efendim, böyle bir durumla daha önce hiç karşılaşmadım. O cam parçasının ayağınızın altından çıkarılması lazım. Ben bunu başaramam.Gelirken görmüştüm. Az ilerde dere kıyısında iki çocuk balık tutuyordu. Gidip onları çağırayım, size yardım ederler herhalde. “ dedikten sonra zıplayarak uzaklaştı.

Kurbağacık çocukların yanına geldiğinde:

“ Lütfen yardım eder misiniz? Yaşlı bir kurbağa ayağından yaralanmış az ilerde yatıyor. Ne olur benimle gelin ona yardın edin , onu kurtarın. İyilik yapmak sevaptır. Haydi çocuklar, lütfen kalkın, benimle gelin. “ dedi.

Kurbağacığın yalvarmasına dayanamayan çocuklar, oltalarını sudan çıkarıp bir kenara koydular ve kurbağacığın peşine takıldılar. Biraz sonra yaşlı kurbağanın ayağındaki cam parçası çıkarılmış ve yaralı yer temiz bir bezle sarılmıştı.

Çocuklar gittikten sonra kurbağacık yaşlı kurbağaya destek oldu ve onu kuytu bir yere götürdü. Burada yaşlı kurbağa, kurbağacığa , yaptığı yardımlardan dolayı teşekkür ettikten sonra:

“ Nedense böylesine karşılık beklemeden yapılan iyilikler, yardımlar pek nadir oluyor. Nedense herkes bir başkası bana kötülük yapmadan ben ondan önce davranıp ona bir kötülük yapayım, ilk ben vurayım diyerek kesinlikle hiç bitmeyecek bir yarışı sürdürüyorlar. Gelin bu anlamsız kötülük yarışından vazgeçin, gelin kardeş olalım, elele tutuşalım, mutluluğa koşalım diyerek seslensem ben şimdi tüm canlılara acaba beni dinlerler mi? Hep kötülük görmekten, hep üzülmekten, hep ağlamaktan bıktım artık. “ diyerek sözlerini tamamladı ve ağlamaya başladı. Yaşlı kurbağanın ağlaması, kurbağacığın silkinmesine sebep oldu.

“Dur ağlama artık yaşlı kurbağa, sil gözyaşlarını. Bundan sonra ikimiz eş kardeş sayılırız. Demek ki bir kötülük yarışı yapılıyor ve herkes bu yarışı önde bitirme gayreti içinde. Buna karşın ben de şu andan itibaren iyilik yarışını başlatıyorum. Yakında dünya turuna çıkacağım ve tüm canlılara iyiliği anlatarak onların da iyilik yarışına katılmalarını sağlayacağım. İyilik bayrağı sonsuza dek gönderde dalgalanacaktır. “

Kurbağacık kendine çok güveniyordu. Neden derseniz, çünkü güçlü bir kozu vardı. Ne çabuk unuttunuz, uçabiliyordu ya. Kıtalararası yolculuk onun için hiçten bile değildi.

Serdar Yıldırım

Serdar Yıld · 01-17-2012

THE LITTLE WHALE AND SHARKS

The little whale whose mother was killed by whale hunters was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. Whilst swimming, he was surrounded by a group of sharks that included about twenty members. The leader of the sharks came nearer to the little whale and said ‘ I know you and I can understand how you feel little whale. Being unhappy won’t help you. You can’t get anything living unhappily. People killed your mother. You must get your revenge. You mustn’t swim around doing nothing. We are your friends and we can teach you how to kill people so that you can kill them cruelly and get your revenge. In the near future people will get to know you and they will be afraid of this cruel whale.’

‘Did people eat my mother?’ asked the little whale.

‘Yes, my little friend they did. People are so cruel. They kill all the living things in the world wildly and also they are really cruel to each other as well. I have seen lots of people fighting with each other on the ships. My grandfather used to say that they were also fighting on the land and the one who beats the other one was becoming a hero.’ answered the leader of the sharks.

‘It means that people are really bad creature, aren’t they? asked the little whale.

‘Yes, they really are.’ said the shark.

‘If they are so, I am going to punish all of them and the ones that killed my mother and made me cry for a long time but I don’t know how to do this.’ the little whale said.

‘You can learn it. Come on honey, follow me. Let’s go my dear friends. Deep waters are waiting for us.’ said the shark.

The sharks taught the little whale all the techniques about how to kill people and it took them one month to do this. Their aim was to send the little whale to the beaches where a lot of people swam and to make him kill all the people who were swimming around.

Little whale was sure of himself. He was definitely confident that he was able to kill people and he always told the sharks he wanted to kill all the people and pull them to pieces. However, the leader of the sharks thought it was necessary to test the little whale if he really learned how to kill that before sending him to the beach to kill people. So five of the sharks started to look for a person swimming around alone and away from the other people who were doing different activities on the beach. After a short time they realized that there was a little boy swimming alone near the lighthouse. This little boy was going to be their first victim. They didn’t want to go closer to the child as they didn’t want him to be scared. They turned back quickly and showed the little whale his first victim so that the little whale started to swim towards the little boy. The sharks thought that the little boy must be a professional swimmer as the sea was very deep around the lighthouse otherwise he couldn’t swim there because most of the people were afraid of it. At first the little whale took his head out of the sea and then his body and tail appeared. The child realized the whale immediately. The whale took a deep breathe and dived into the sea. Although it was just a baby whale, it was four metres long. It was impossible for the little boy to swim towards the beach because the whale could swim much faster than him so that it could catch him before reaching the beach. He started swimming parallel to the beach but the whale came closer and closer and then the whale started swimming next to him and after a while it suddenly opened its mouth and then closed it. Then it turned back and swam towards the sharks.

When he came near them:

‘ I completed my mission. I killed the child.’ he said.

‘ Did you pull him to pieces?’, asked the leader of the sharks.

‘ No, I didn’t pull him to pieces’, said the little whale.

‘ Didn’t you? What did you do, then?’ asked the shark.

‘ I swallowed him.’ replied the whale.

‘Swallowed?’ asked the shark.

‘ Yes, I did. The child is in my stomach now.’ said the whale.

‘ No matter what you did. As a result you killed him. I really appreciate what you did and I want to congratulate you. We are going somewhere far away tomorrow to attend a meeting so that we won’t be here for a few days. I want you to go to the beach and kill as may people as possible. You can either pull them to pieces or swallow them. You must swim around all the beaches and kill all the people you come across. Do not pity on them.’ said the leader of the sharks.

After a few days the sharks came back and found the little whale swimming around happily. The little whale told them that he had killed twenty people cruelly and people had been afraid of swimming in the sea since than because they were scared to death and next he boasted them all the people were afraid of him. All the sharks became very pleased when they heard that.

The next day one of the sharks saw the boy whom the whale pretended as if he swallowed the other day on the beach near the lighthouse. He went directly beside their leader and told what he had seen so that the leader got furious. He went beside the little whale angrily.

‘You told us that you had swallowed that little boy but we saw him on the beach and he was alive. Nothing has happened to him. He looks so healthy. Are you making fun of us?’ he said.

The whale realized that he was being surrounded by the sharks that seemed very angry.

‘Yes, I swallowed him but I couldn’t digest him so I had to vomit him because he started kicking my stomach.’ replied the little whale.

‘Shut up, you liar! you didn’t swallow him and you didn’t attack other people swimming around. They were all lies. You also told us that people couldn’t come to the beach as they were afraid of you but you see all the beaches are full of people and they don’t care about you. All the things that you told us were lies. If you can’t kill them, I will…… said the leader of the sharks. And he couldn’t finish his sentence.

‘What will you do? I got bored of you all. Get out of my sight!’ said the whale angrily and then hit the leader with his head so strongly that it went down the depths of the sea and then he started to swim very fast towards the beach. It was too late to turn back and the sharks were swimming just behind him and they were so close. If they caught him they would pull him to pieces.

Little whale reached the beach hardly. It struggled and kicked about while lying on its back for a while and it could manage to move a bit on the beach. When he got weak he let his head on the hot sand. The child recognized the whale and ran beside him.

‘What is happening little whale? You must be in the sea not on the beach!’ said the little boy.

‘Thanks God. Is it you little boy? Sorry I can’t remember your name.2 said the little whale.

‘My name is Mark. I am OK! What are you doing on the beach?’ asked the little boy.

‘My name is Sili. We met a few days ago, didn’t we?’ asked the little whale.

‘Yes, I do. We swam next to each other for a while. When you opened your big mouth I got so frightened because I thought that you were going to eat me but I was wrong. You just opened your mouth widely and then closed it and swam away. I couldn’t understand why you did like that.’ said the little boy.

‘ Did you really think that I was going to eat you. That was just a joke. I am so sorry that I made you frightened. Please forgive me for my behaviour’ said the whale.

‘ OK! I do forgive you. Would you please tell me what is going on now? What is the reason for your being here on the beach instead of swimming in the sea?’ asked the little boy.

Little told him everything.

‘As you see my friend all the sharks are chasing me all around and I can not fight them alone because there are twenty sharks that want to kill me. That is why I am here.’ said the whale.

‘Why didn’t you swim away when the sharks went far away for the meeting? You should have asked for help from the other whales.’ said the little boy.

‘If I had swum away, the sharks would catch me easily. I would have no chance to survive because all the sharks in the sea would start looking for me in order to kill me. I wouldn’t have asked for help from other whales because that would cause a cruel war between all the sharks and whales living in the sea. as a result a lot of whales and sharks would die just because of me. I might have died in that war. But now only I am dying and none of the whales is in danger. It is not the end of the world if I die. The world is like a drop in the space and I am not even like a drop in the ocean’ explained the whale.

‘If your mother hadn’t died, the sharks wouldn’t have tried to kill you. You wouldn’t be here and running away from them.’ said the boy.

‘ That is true but people are responsible from my mother’s death. They killed her. What is more I can’t understand the reason why they killed my mother. She didn’t hurt them. Why do you think they killed her, Mark?’ asked the little whale.

‘To earn some money. Some people kill animals to earn some money. They don’t care about what would happen to the babies of those animals that they kill. How can those babies survive without their mothers? They won’t give harm to a child whose mother or father died. Because they respect that child and pity on him. A child whose mother or father died when he was small can understand you very well. I promise you I will never give harm anything on earth.’ promised the child.

‘ I love you, Mark’ said the little whale.

‘ I love you, too Sili’ replied the little boy.

Written by: Serdar Yıldırım

YAVRU BALİNA İLE KÖPEKBALIKLARI

Annesi balina avcıları tarafından öldürülen yavru balina Atlas Okyanusu’nda yüzerken etrafını yirmi kadar köpekbalığı sardı. Başkan köpekbalığı yavru balinanın yanına gelerek: “ Seni tanıyorum ve durumunu çok iyi anlıyorum yavru balina. Ama üzülmekle eline bir şey geçmez. Anneni insanlar öldürdü. Sen bunu onların yanına bırakmamalısın. Annenin intikamını almalısın. Biz senin dostunuz. Sana öldürmeyi öğretip, insanların üstüne salacağız. Çok yakında insanlar yavru balinayı tanıyıp, ondan korkacaklar “ dedi.

“ Annemi yerler mi insanlar? “ diye sordu yavru balina.

“ Yerler yavrum. İnsanlar acımasızdır. Onlar dünyadaki tüm canlıları acımasızca öldürürler. Hoş, insanlar birbirlerine karşı da acımasızdır. Ben buralarda çok gördüm gemiler içinde savaşan insanları. Dedem insanların toprak üstünde de savaştıklarını söylerdi. Savaşı kazanan kahraman olurmuş. “

“ İnsanlar kötü yaratık desene? “

“ Hem de çok kötü yaratık. “

“ O zaman beni annesiz bırakan, bana günlerce gözyaşı döktüren insanları cezalandıracağım, ama bunu nasıl yapacağımı bilemiyorum. “

“ Öğrenirsen bilirsin. Haydi, yavrucuk peşimden gel. Siz de peşimden gelin köpek kardeşlerim. Derinlikler bizi bekliyor. “

Aradan bir ay geçti. Bu sürede köpekbalıkları bildikleri öldürme yöntemlerini yavru balinaya öğrettiler. Hedef, insanların toplu halde yüzdükleri plajlar olacaktı. Plajlar, insan kanına boyanacaktı. Yavru balina, öldürürüm, parçalarım, diyordu ama onu plaja salmadan önce bir deneme yapmalıydı. Bakalım öldürebilecek miydi? Beş köpekbalığı yalnız yüzen insan aramaya başladı. Deniz fenerinin yakınında bir çocuk yüzüyordu. İlk kurban o olacaktı.

Köpekbalıkları sahilden uzak kaldılar. Çocuğu ürkütmek istemiyorlardı. Yavru balina hızla çocuğa doğru yüzmeye başladı. Fenerin oralar derin demişti köpekbalıkları, çocuk demek ki, usta yüzücüydü. Yoksa onun ne işi vardı böyle derin yerde. Yavru balina kafasını suyun üstüne çıkardı, daha sonra gövdesi ve kuyruğu göründü. Çocuk, yavru balinayı hemen fark etti. Derin bir nefes alıp suya daldı. Balina yavruydu ama dört metre boyundaydı. Sahile doğru yüzmeye kalksa bunu başaramazdı, çünkü yavru balina ondan çok daha hızlıydı. Yetişmesi an meselesiydi. Bundan dolayı çocuk sahile paralel yüzüyordu. Yavru balina çocuğa yetişti, bir süre onunla yan yana yüzdü ve aniden dönerek ağzını açıp kapadı. Yavru balina köpekbalıklarının yanına döndüğünde:

“ Görevimi başardım. Çocuğun işi tamam “ dedi.

“ Çocuğu parçaladın mı? “ diye sordu, başkan köpekbalığı.

“ Hayır, parçalamadım “ dedi yavru balina.

“ Parçalamadın mı? O zaman ne yaptın? “

“ Çocuğu yuttum. “

“ Yuttun mu? “

“ Evet, yuttum…Çocuk şimdi midemde. “

“ Öyle veya böyle, çocuğu öldürmüşsün işte. Seni kutlarım yavru balina. Biz yarın uzaklara gidip bir toplantıya katılacağız. Birkaç gün yokuz. Sen şu ilerdeki plaja git, yakaladığını ister parçala, ister yut. Sıradan bütün plajları dolaş. İnsanlara acıma yok. “

Köpekbalıkları döndüğünde yavru balinayı buldular. Yavru balina yirmi insanı acımadan öldürdüğünü, insanların plajlara çıkamadığını, etrafa korku saldığını söyledi. Köpekbalıkları bu habere çok sevindiler. Ertesi gün bir köpekbalığı deniz fenerinin yakınındaki sahilde yavru balinanın yuttum dediği çocuğu gördü. Başkanı bularak durumu anlattı. Başkan, bunun üzerine çok sinirlendi. Nefretle yavru balinanın üstüne gitti:

“ Hani yutmuştun o çocuğu, bak fenerin oradaymış. Sen bizimle dalga mı geçiyorsun? “

Köpekbalıklarının etrafını sardığını gören yavru balina:

“ Şey, yutmuştum ama hazmedemedim, kusuverdim. Çocuk midemi tekmelemişti. “

“ Sus, yalancı seni, çocuğu yutmadın, plajlara saldırmadın, bütün plajlar dolu. Hani plajlara kimse çıkamıyordu, hani etrafa korku salmıştın. Yalan, hepsi yalan. Madem öldüremiyorsun, ölürsün. Şimdi seni…”

Başkan köpekbalığı sözlerini tamamlayamadı, çünkü yavru balina:

“ Beni ne yaparsın? Sıktın artık, çekil önümden “ dedikten sonra, ona sert bir kafa vurarak denizin derinliklerine yolladı.

Yavru balinanın önü açılmıştı. Gücünün yettiği kadar hızlı yüzmeye başladı. Karşısı sahildi. Artık geriye dönüş yoktu. Peşinde sürüyle köpekbalığı vardı. Yakalarlarsa parçalarlardı. Yavru balina kendini sahile zor attı. Debelendi kumun üstünde biraz daha, biraz daha ilerledi. Gücü tükenince başını sıcacık kumun üstüne bıraktı. Çocuk yavru balinayı tanımıştı. Onun yanına geldi:

“ Ne oluyor, yavru balina? Neden sahile çıktın? “

“ Oh, sen miydin? Nasılsın çocuk? Adın neydi senin? “

“ Benim adım Mark. İyiyim de burada ne işin var? “

“ Benim adım de Sili. Geçenlerde tanışmıştık, hatırladın mı? “

“ Hatırladım. Bir süre yan yana yüzmüştük, sonra sen gitmiştin. Üstüme gelirken beni yiyeceksin sanıp korkmuştum.”

“ Kim? Ben mi seni yiyecektim? O bir şakaydı. Seni korkuttuğum için özür dilerim. Beni affet.”

“ Affettim gitti. Anlat bakalım Sili, neler oluyor? Neden denizde değil de buradasın? “

Yavru balina olanları anlattıktan sonra:

“ Ya, işte böyle Mark, köpekbalıkları peşimde, sayıları yirmiden fazla. Onlarla yalnız başıma çarpışamam. Acı gerçek ama benim için böylesi daha iyi olacak. “

“ Köpekbalıkları toplantıya gittiğinde kaçıp gitseydin uzaklara veya balinalardan yardım isteseydin? “

“ Kaçsam kısa zamanda yakalanırdım. Kurtuluşu yoktu. Okyanustaki bütün köpekbalıkları peşime düşerdi. Balinalardan yardım isteyemezdim, çünkü bu korkunç bir savaşın başlangıcı olurdu. Yüzlerce balina ve köpekbalığı birbirine girerdi. Arada belki ben de ölürdüm. Oysa şimdi sadece ben ölüyorum, hiçbir balinayı tehlikeye atmıyorum. Bir benim için başkalarının keyfini kaçıramam. Sili ölürse kıyamet kopmaz. Hayat devam eder. Dünya uzayda nokta kadar, fakat Sili dünyada nokta kadar bile değil. “

“ Annen yaşasaydı köpekbalıkları sana sokulamazdı. Bu duruma düşmezdin. “

“ Onun orası öyle de annemi insanlar öldürdü. Asıl suçlu annemi öldüren insanlar. Mark, sence insanlar annemi neden öldürdü? “

“ Kazanç uğruna. Bazıları kendileri kazansın diye can alıyorlar. Öldürürken düşünmezler ki, balinanın yavrusu ne olacak? Yavru annesiz ne yapacak? Örneğin; annesiz, babasız bir çocuk ne olur, ne yapar, nasıl yaşar? Çocukken bunu düşünen biri büyüdüğünde diğer canlıların hayatına saygı duyar, onlara zarar vermez. Tanrı şahidimdir ki, ben insan olsun, diğer canlı varlıklar olsun hiçbirine zarar vermeyeceğim. Yemin ediyorum. “

“ Seni seviyorum, Mark.”

“ Ben de seni seviyorum, Sili. “

SON

Yazan: Serdar Yıldırım

eray · 01-20-2012

Paylaşım için Teşekkürler.Ellerine sağlık.!

Serdar Yıld · 08-11-2012

THE SQUAD GIRAFFE

A very big place was reserved for giraffes in the zoo which was in Gülhane Park. There lived a mother and a father giraffe with their two children. They were walking with a swaying movement all day long and the visitors were watching them. The mother and the father giraffes had been living in that place for a very long time so that they got used to living there and they didn't complain about it, but their children were bored and they always asked their father: ' How long are we going to live here? When are you going to take us to the places that you have told us in the fairy tales?'.

One day one of his children asked him, 'Daddy, how did we come here? Who took us here?'.

Then the father giraffe decided to tell his children the story of their grandfather who lived very far away from there so that they could be able to understand how they ended up in that place.

And he started:

'All the giraffes are very tall and have long necks but your grandfather was very short when he was born. As the years passed away he become older but he could not get taller and as he got older the desire to be a star in a circus grew more and more in his heart. He did not want to live in that place, and being an ordinary giraffe was not proper for him. So he started to organize shows in the wood where he lived to achieve his goal. All the animals living in that wood were interested in his shows and watched his imitations of different animals happily.

One day hunters came to that wood. They were there to catch some animals and take them to a zoo. While they were watching around with their binoculars on a hill, they saw the squad giraffe making his show. When they saw his admirable acting and excellent show they thought that he was a marvellous juggler so they decided to catch him. After the show they started to follow him secretly. The squad giraffe was not surprised because he knew that to be successful there were some difficulties that he had to struggle with. He thought in details about what he should do to dispose of those hunters in and made a very brilliant plan.

He knew that if he did something without planning it he would have some difficulties and would be caught by the hunters easily. It was impossible to understand what the hunters' intention was and how they were planning to catch him.

The next day the hunters pinched him near a reed bed. While the hunters were moving ahead they were so happy because they were sure of catching him as there was nowhere for him to run away. When they found out that he disappeared, they could not believe their eyes. They realized that the footprints of the squad giraffe disappeared near the reed bed. In fact this was a part of the giraffe's plan. He escaped from there by getting on a trunk of a tree which he had hidden there the day before. The following day he could hear the hunters saying that if he was caught, he was going to be taken to a zoo. After hearing this conversation he became so happy that he appeared jigging up and down on his four feet. Then he howled like a wolf and roared like a lion. The hunters were shocked when they saw him doing such things and behaving like a fool. After that the squad giraffe started doing all the tricks that he knew one after another and finished his show. The hunters liked his show very much so that they applauded him.

When he was taken to the zoo, he started living here where we live now. But he continued making his shows in his new home. In the meantime my mother and he fell in love. After a time I was born. When I was a little giraffe I remember that a lot of people were coming here to see him and to watch his shows. He was making his shows all day long without getting tired. By the way an international circus used to come here on certain dates of each year. Once while the circus was being established here the owner of it started walking around the zoo. When he saw the crowd he what was happening there so he smuggled into the crowd. After watching the squad giraffe making his show he understood that he was very talented and could become a world-famous star so he gave him lots of money to transfer him to his circus. The squad giraffe put this opportunity into good use and after a few rehearsals he appeared on the stage. He was so successful that the number of people who came to the circus increased suddenly.

The circus used to stay for ten days wherever it was established and there used to be only one show during the day. After the small giraffe started working there this changed and four or five shows a day were being made and that year the circus stayed in the zoo for a month.

The next year when the circus came here my father visited us. He was here to see my mother and me and his friends. We were very happy.

We were together for about two hours. He told us that he had been to a lot of countries making shows and attracted attention of everybody. He wanted to become a star in a circus and he did his best for this and finally he achieved his goal. He was so happy. Did you understand how we came here to this place?'
'Yes, daddy we did. We got it very well', the children replied all together and they looked at each other smiling.

There is an undeniable truth that there is nothing which can not be done if you want to do it so much. Nothing or nobody can stop you. You might have some dreams of your own or you would like to be as successful as somebody you admire there is nothing to stop you so you should go for it. The little giraffes followed their grandfather's footsteps and became very successful circus stars. If you look at the sky very carefully at night you can see them blinking you.

Written by: Serdar Yıldırım

THE LİON THAT PLAYS THE GUİTAR

The lion, king of woods, didn’t have a son to continue his family and kingdom so that he was very unhappy. If he had a son, his son would grow up in a few years time and walk around in the woods throwing his mane into the air. When he roared to keep the security of the woods all the criminals or the ones who were getting ready to commit a crime would look for a place to hide as they got frightened of his voice and his power. Why didn’t he have a son to leave his crown and kingdom? He didn’t even have a single relative or a child of a relative to whom he might teach how to be a king or manage the woods and who can be the king after he get older. The king must be noble and aristocrat. It wasn’t easy to be a king. Anybody who wants to be a king couldn’t manage the woods. He should have noble descendants. If the king made an ordinary lion the king there would be some problems because that lion might be unable to manage all the animals that lived in his kingdom which might cause a chaos and a rebellion would break up and this might result in death of lots of animals.

The king of the woods thought that he should leave his kingdom and his crown to a lion which was from his family otherwise he would not be relaxed. So that he decided to check out his family tree once more much more carefully. He agreed on controlling every detail about his father, his grandfather and his other relatives in details. I must find a lion that is noble.

He made lots of researches for a very long time and as a result he found out some new information about his family. Four generations ago when the king left his kingdom to his elder son the younger one got really upset and that he abandoned the kingdom. While searching for some information about his family he learned that this lion started to live in a very far away wood which was called Grandr. He started a new life which was very simple there. He couldn’t find any other information about what had happened to that lion afterwards. The king invited the fox to his palace and told him about all those things. Then the king wanted the fox to make an investigation if he could find any of his relatives
in that woods and also he ordered him to bring the youngest and talented one with him to the king’s palace. The fox wasn’t going to tell anyone about his journey to any other animals otherwise it was going to be killed.

When the fox reached the Grandr woods he saw a small group of people who were listening to a small lion playing the guitar. The fox was really surprised because he had never seen a lion playing the guitar before. And the lion was playing it very well. He wanted to see the lion’s performance and listen to him from a nearer place so that he walked along through the crowds and took a seat at the first row. Now he could hear the sound of the guitar much better. He listened to the lion playing his guitar for a while and as a result he thought that it was such a talented lion. He wanted to listen to the lion’s concert till the morning but it was impossible because when it got dark the lion ended his concert and thanked to those who were listening to his concert. The fox was really impressed and it was the best performance he had ever seen and listened to.

The next day the fox started his investigation to find out something about what had happened to the youngest son of the king that had left his homeland many years ago. He talked to each of the animals and asked them if they knew anything about that lion and what might have happened to him, if he had any sons or if he died alone without having a family and children of his own but he couldn’t find the answers of these questions because none of the animals that he talked to didn’t gave him a clear explanation. They all told him that they didn’t know anything about that lion and his story.

The fox’s investigation took ten days and in the end a very old lion confessed that he knew something about the lion that he was trying to get some information about. There was only one lion that survived and all the others had died and that was the lion playing the guitar when he first arrived in those woods. It wasn’t very difficult to find that lion for the fox. He was again giving a concert at the same place. When the concert ended the fox went beside the lion and told him that he was sent there by the king of the woods and that the king had heard about that talented lion so that invited him to give a concert in his palace. The lion accepted the king’s invitation and set off his journey with the fox to go to the palace.

When they arrived at the palace the fox firstly showed the lion his room and then went to talk to the king about what had happened in details. Fortunately a lion that was noble and coming from the royal family had been found. What is more it was really talented. But his being able to play the guitar surprised the kind and he also thought that it was very strange for a lion to play the guitar.

After having dinner in the dining room of the palace the lion started his concert. All the animals that were listening to his concert in the palace were fascinated. Everybody thought that he had supernatural powers as if a magical hand was playing the guitar and sometimes the lion was also singing while playing his guitar and that was really unbelievable.

Day after day as the king got to know the lion he started to love him much more. He was noble, honoured, well informed besides he was respectful and cultured. Moreover he was the king’s cousin. What else would be expected from a lion that was going to be the king? The king decided to leave his kingdom to this lion. But the king couldn’t find a way to explain this situation to him. It was very difficult for the king to do this. The days were passing by but the king couldn’t talk to the lion about his intention. Fortunately he could find the courage at himself to talk to the lion all about. And he told him every detail.

‘Here is the family tree and these are the names or our grandparents that were the kings before. When my grandfather was requested as a king after his father, your grandfather left the palace and moved to Grandr woods. And you are the only one who survives of his descendants. I mean you are my cousin and you are the only one who will be the king after I die’.

The lion wasn’t surprised when he heard what the king had told him. He had listened to those stories from his father many times. He told the king that he had known everything. The king congratulated the lion because of his honesty. He might have pretended as if he didn’t know anything but he didn’t do so. As a result the king was so honoured because of having a cousin like him and he was very pleased that he could find the right lion to leave his kingdom.

Written by: Serdar Yıldırım

THE KİNG WHO İS İNTERESTED İN ASTRONOMY

Many years ago there was a king who was interested in astronomy. He spent most of his time in the observatory which was built near his palace. He wanted to have all the books that were written about the sky, stars, space and astronomy so far and all the maps drown about them in his library. He invited astrologists and astronomers from other countries to his palace and took a share in their discussions about the evolution stages of the world until that time, the adventures of mankind on earth, whether there was an intelligent life on other planets or not and they tried to find out the answers of such kind of subjects.

One day he heard that a Persian man who was called Ebu Salip Efendi invented a kind of telescope and thanks to it he had discovered lots of new stars. The king called for his vizier by his side and said to him ‘I want to know what the new discovered stars look like and every detail about them. I want an ambassador to go to Persia and I want him to invite Ebu Salip Efendi to my palace as my guest’.

After many days and weeks Ebu Salip Efendi who thought the conditions which were written on the letter which was sent to him by the king with the ambassador were favourable, got permission from the Persian shah and set off his journey to the palace. The king welcomed his guest at the entrance of his palace. Then they started talking about the stars which were discovered by his guest and as they continued their conversation the king became more and more curious about the things which his guest was telling him. When the king heard that his name was given to the biggest star which was discovered by Ebu Salip in his honour, he became very excited and was really delighted that he wanted his guest to make a similar telescope for him as soon as possible. The next day they went to the observatory which was next to the palace. Ebu Salip Efendi told the king that the equipments they had were not qualified and the observatory was not big enough for the telescope. He wanted permission to build a bigger observatory from the king. After getting permission, he started the building of the new observatory on a slope of a mountain which was far away from the palace and moved to a village near it.

It took so long to build the observatory and so much money was spent on it that there was no money left in the state treasury. As a result of this, the king wanted his taxmen to collect the taxes belonging to four or five years’ later from the people who lived in that country. Unfortunately the people had lots of difficulties because they had given all their money for the building of the observatory so that they were desperate. And they started fighting with the taxmen but the king could not understand that he was mistaken so that he did not care about the people who tried to advise him of his mistake. He could not realize his false step because of his curiosity about the newly discovered stars and the biggest star which his name was given to. He could not think of anything accept them. He started listening to the meetings which were held in the palace about the stars, space and astronomy much more carefully and Ebu Salip Efendi sometimes attended those meetings.

One day in summer the king and his two men changed their clothes and wore ordinary clothes which were worn by merchants in his kingdom and went to the village where Ebu Salip started living. The owner of the village was a kind hearted, honest and brave man. He was about thirty years old. He invited the king and his two men to his house. They ate different kinds of meals and drank some buttermilk and after that they started talking about ordinary daily things and then the conversation turned to stars and space. The king who was dressed up like a merchant started talking about the first man on the earth and ended up his speech by giving information about all the secrets of earth. He said that the space was infinite and there were countless planets and stars in it and he added that owing to the new observatory which was being built thanks to the great king and the telescope which was really reformed lots of unknown planets and stars were going to be discovered. In addition he said that humanity owed thanks to the king.

The owner of the village who was listening to the king who was dressed up like a merchant quietly and then he said ‘Why should the humanity owe him thanks? We must think about where the money which is spent for the building of the observatory comes from. It is not fair to get lots of taxes from the people who are hard up and it is not legal and this is cruelty. When new stars are discovered will it be useful for the poor? Will they eat the new discovered stars to get rid of their hunger? And everybody knows that Ebu Salip spends one tenth of the money for the building and buys lots of birds with the remaining of it’.

These words were so irritating that when the king heard them he stood up with anger. When his men saw him standing up they stood up as well holding their swords and taking them out of their spear carriers as well. They were ready to attack the owner of the village because it was obligatory to kill this indiscreet and rude man. The man’s speech affected the king deeply that’s why the white part of his eyes disappeared because of hatred and anger.

After he got rid of the shock he cries out to the man, ‘How dare you speak about the king this way? It is the duty of every citizen to pay tax for his country. If everybody says I don’t care who will find out the secrets of the universe?’

The owner of the village who was sitting on a cushion answered back:

‘Everybody should pay tax in accordance with their income. It is not fair to get this much tax from those poor people and they gave all their money in tax. Ok! I know that the people who try to find out the secrets of the universe serve mankind a lot but they can not get the results of their discoveries in less than two years time. As the scientific researches and technical achievements progressed, those secrets will be discovered day by day. May be centuries are required for this. I mean more time is needed for it’.

The things he said were very logical so that the king became so silent and calmed down. Then he asked if one tenth of the money was being spent for the observatory how could the remaining be spent on birds.

The owner of the village replied, ‘On the last day of each month lots of gunny bags full of birds are being sent the Persian shah. The king could not speak any more. He greeted the owner of the village with his head and went out. He and his men hopped on their horses and set off speedily to the capital city. They learned that everything which was claimed by the owner of the village was true. Thanks to the plan which was made cleverly by the king, on the last day of the month they found out bags full of gold which was prepared to be sent to the Persian shah. All the criminals were captured. It was understood that Ebu Salip Efendi was a liar and he did not know how to make a telescope and anything about stars and that he had not discovered any stars and also all the things that he mentioned in the meeting were made up and memorized by him. Ebu Salip sold all his possessions in his country and gave all his money to the king in order to be forgiven by him. The king forgave him and let him survive in one condition. He was going to be followed by the king men until he died. All the money taken from Ebu Salip and gold coins which were found out the last day of the month were handed out to the people. They were so pleased.

The king and his men continued visiting the owner of the village and staying in his house dressed up like ordinary people. During these visitations neither the king who was dressed up like a merchant told the owner of the village that he was the king, nor the owner of the village told the king that he understood that he was the king at first sight. They swapped information all the time and the king stopped thinking about the planets and the stars. Moreover, he started taking care of his people.

Written by: Serdar Yıldırım

THE CHAMPİON DUCK

There lived thousands of ducks around a lake. These ducks organized different competitions and competed gently and they awarded the ones who came first. Gadro was winning all the competitions which were organized for the last few years. He was coming first an all competitions such as swimming, diving, walking beautifully etc. many years ago while his friends were playing around; Gadro was training alone and was very ambitious about being the champion one day. He didn’t attend any of the competitions without being sure of himself and he came first in all the games that he attended.

Recently, Gadro started to say his friends that he was planning to migrate somewhere far away. In fact he wasn’t happy there. It was such a small place and he thought that the world was so big. His aim was to be famous all around the world. Being famous in that place was not enough for him. He wanted to be a world famous duck.

One day Gadro left his homeland without telling anyone. He was walking so fast and what is more he didn’t turn back to look at the places where he was born and grew up once more. As he was going away from his homeland that was by the lake he realized that a pain in his heart was growing bigger and bigger. Whenever he saw some animals on his way through the woods he immediately went near them but when he realized that those animals were behaving him as if he was an ordinary duck and they were laughing at him when he told them about some of his plans. So that he was really unhappy and desperate.

After a while Gadro realized that other animals were laughing at even the way he walked so his unhappiness grew more and more. He thought that they were a few stupid animals and he found it ridicules how they could dare to laugh at a champion duck that was really talented and could be a world famous sportsman one day.

He was known by thousands of ducks that lived by the lake and he was admired by them. What about those animals. None of them was famous and known by any other animals. They didn’t even know who or what they were. Was it possible for an animal that forgot its own name to remember Gadro, even if he was known by everyone? They were all poor, pitiable creatures.

For five years Gadro travelled and lived in lots of different places. And then he turned back to his homeland by the lake. He wasn’t walking around the lake any more as he did in the past and at nights he was training for swimming and diving in the lake. During the day he was watching the ducks that were swimming in the lake at the top of one of the hills around.

One day Gadro climbed on that hill again and to his amazement he saw that there were about forty or fifty ducks by the lake and five of them started competing in the lake. Rarely could he hear some of the ducks were applauding the competitors. Gadro thought they must be training. After a short time Gadro realized that an old duck was approaching him. He pulled down his hat on his eyes in order to be unknown by this old duck. After greeting Gadro the old duck sat next to him.

‘This year very few ducks are showing interest in competitions’ the old duck said. ‘As you see only five ducks are competing and hardly fifty ducks are watching and trying to courage them.’

Gadro was confused.

‘What did you say? Are they competing at the moment? I don’t believe it. I thought they were training!’ replied Gadro.

‘They are really racing my son. What is more this is the most important competition of the year. The duck which comes first in swimming will get the big prize. There used to be amazing competitions in this lake. This hill, those hills and the ones behind used to be full of spectators and hundreds of ducks used to attend the competitions which lasted for days and all the competitors tried to do their best. The ones that came first became perceptible in the competitions which were held on the next day and they used to get their awards while everybody was applauding them. After Gadro left here, the excitement of the competitions ended. If it goes on this way, in a few years time there will be nobody attending the races. It is really hard to find a duck to compete if there is no spectator.’ the old duck explained sadly.

Gadro was really touched while listening to the old duck and there were tears in his eyes. He pulled up his hat a bit to clean his tears. The old duck who had seen Gadro many times while he was competing and training around the lake realized that the duck sitting next to him was Gadro. He was the champion of all the games. It was unbelievable. Ha turned back to his homeland many years later. At first Gadro denied that he was the champion duck but in the end he confessed that he was because the old duck insisted on him a lot. Also he accepted to publicize his being back to other ducks.

The next day, thousands of ducks gathered by the lake. They were all waiting for Gadro so that he didn’t make them wait for too long. He came there and he started swimming in the lake with the old duck and he met all the ducks in the lake and greeted them, made some compliments and a short speech to the ducks.

Then he started coaching the young ducks that were getting ready for the next competitions. The did his best to make each of them good competitors. Hundreds of ducks started to attend the competitions again as it used to be in the past. Gadro entered the competitions as well. He was coming first in most of them and sometimes he let others to beat him because he wanted to courage the other young ducks and everybody knew that he was being beaten on purpose.

That year Gadro was twenty-four and he got really old. He could attend the short distance swimming competitions for the past few years. In his last competition although he had some problems at the beginning of the game he didn’t give up swimming. He came last. When the other ducks turned back after completing the race they saw Gadro. The champion duck was falling on his back as he tried to swim and he was struggling desperately. Other ducks were shocked and they knew that Gadro had done lots of things for them to be a champion. He coached them day and night. And their coach was in a difficult situation. They swam quickly back towards Gadro and they took him in their arms. He could hardly speak as he was nearly unconscious. He was saying that he had to finish the race. He managed to finish the race in the arms of other ducks while thousands of ducks were watching him silently.

Normally average life expectancy for a duck is about twenty five years but Gadro lived longer than that. He couldn’t compete any more but he was always there to support the other duck.

Written by: Serdar Yıldırım