Forty-four Turkish Fairy Tales: Patience-Stone and Patience-Knife
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Next day the girl secured the door and window, and commenced her work, when suddenly, purr!--and the bird perched itself on her embroidery table. "Oh my poor maiden, your kismet is with a dead person," it said as before, and flew away. The girl was more frightened than ever and told her mother when she came home. "Tomorrow," advised her mother, "fasten door and window, creep into the cupboard, and work by candlelight there."
Henceforth neither mother nor daughter quitted the house, but waited constantly lest the bird should return. One day some girls belonging to the neighbourhood came on a visit, and requested the woman to let her daughter go out with them to enjoy herself and try to forget her sorrow. The mother was afraid to let her daughter go, but as they promised not to let her out of their sight for a moment, she eventually consented. The party went into the meadows, and danced and made merry till sunset. On their way home they stopped at a spring to quench their thirst. The poor woman's daughter also went to the spring, and while she was drinking, a wall rose up by magic and cut her off from her companions. Such a wall had never been seen before; it was so high that none could scale it, and so broad that none could cross it. All the girls were terror-stricken; they moaned and wept and ran about in confusion uttering cries of despair; what would become of the poor maiden and of her poor mother! "I told you," said one, "that we must not take her with us." "What are we to say to her mother?" asked another. "How can we face her?" "It's your fault--you proposed it," said a third; and thus they disputed while gazing helplessly at the gigantic wall. The mother, standing at the door, was anxiously awaiting her daughter's "A yellow patience-stone and a brown patience-knife--please bring me both," said she. The Bey departed and bought the garment, but the patience-stone and patience-knife he could find nowhere. He would not return without them if he could avoid it, so he entered a ship. When the ship had accomplished half its voyage it came suddenly to a full stop, and would go neither forward nor backward. The captain was alarmed, and calling the passengers together he informed them that there must be a man on board who had failed to keep his word; that was why they could not proceed. Then the Bey stepped forth and confessed that he was the man. He was accordingly put ashore, that he might fulfil his promise and then return to the vessel. The Bey went from one place to another till at length he stopped at a large spring. Hardly had he leaned against the stone when a thick-lipped Arab appeared and asked what he wanted. "A yellow patience-stone and a brown patience-knife," he replied. The next moment the two articles were placed in the Bey's hand, and he went joyfully back to the vessel, and in due course returned home in time for
Proceeding, the maiden related how the Arab woman had deceived her, and how the Bey had taken the Arab woman and not her, self to be his wife. As though the stone had a heart, it gasped and swelled, and when the maiden had finished her narrative it could endure no more, but split asunder.
Now the maiden took up the knife and cried: "O yellow patience stone,
