Keloglan and the Fox

Once upon a time, Keloglan had a few hens left to him by his mother. One night a great clucking came from the henhouse. Keloglan grabbed a stick and ran out; inside the henhouse was a fox with a hen in its mouth. Keloglan caught the fox by the tail. The fox began to beg: "Keloglan, let me go! I was so hungry, and my cubs are hungry too. If you let me go, I'll do you such a favour that you'll never forget it as long as you live."

Keloglan thought for a moment. The fox's eyes looked honest. "All right," he said. "Drop the hen and go. But don't come to the henhouse again." The fox dropped the hen, thanked him and ran off to the forest.

A few days later the fox came back. "Keloglan, I've come to keep my promise. I'm going to make you the sultan's son-in-law." Keloglan burst out laughing: "I don't even have a house. Would the sultan give his daughter to me?" "Just trust me," said the fox. "Give me a measuring bowl."

The fox took the bowl to the palace and went before the sultan: "My sultan, my master Keloglan Bey would like to borrow a measuring bowl to measure his gold. His own bowls are full of gold and are not enough any more." The sultan was surprised, but he lent him the bowl. The fox smeared a little honey on the bottom of the bowl, stuck a few gold coins to it, and took it back the next day. When the sultan saw the gold at the bottom of the bowl, he thought, "Who can this Keloglan Bey be, who measures gold by the bowlful?"

The fox came once more: "My sultan, my master Keloglan Bey would like to ask for your daughter's hand. If you allow it, he will come to your palace tomorrow." The sultan was curious and agreed. The fox ran back to Keloglan: "Tomorrow we're going to the palace. But first go into the stream and throw your old clothes into the water."

Keloglan went into the stream, the fox threw his clothes into the current and ran to the palace: "Help! Bandits have attacked my master Keloglan Bey's caravan and taken all his clothes and horses. He's been left standing in the stream!" The sultan at once sent the finest robes and the best horse. Keloglan arrived at the palace in gold-embroidered robes, riding a white horse. When the sultan's daughter saw him, she liked him very much.

The wedding was agreed. But the sultan said, "I'd like to see my son-in-law's palace." Keloglan turned pale. The fox whispered: "Don't be afraid, I'll go ahead." The fox ran on and said to the shepherds tending their flocks and the farmers working in the fields along the road: "If anyone asks, say that all this belongs to Keloglan Bey. Otherwise the giant coming behind will eat you!" The shepherds were frightened, and when the sultan asked, they said, "All this belongs to Keloglan Bey."

At the end of the road stood a giant's palace. The giant was cruel and took tribute from the whole land. The fox ran to the giant: "Master Giant, the sultan's army is coming to catch you! Hide quickly!" The giant was so scared that he hid in the palace well, and the fox covered the mouth of the well with a big stone. When the sultan arrived, he found the palace empty but gleaming: "My son-in-law's palace is more beautiful than mine!"

The wedding lasted forty days and forty nights. Keloglan returned the tribute the giant had taken to its owners and opened the palace gates to the poor. One day he asked the fox: "Why did you do so much for me?" The fox smiled: "You spared my life. A life is worth more than a palace."

Keloglan had a den built for the fox in the palace garden. The fox and its cubs lived there happily. They never went into another henhouse, because every day food came to them from the palace kitchen. Three apples fell from the sky: one for the one who told this tale, one for the one who listened, and one for the loyal fox.