Whether it was or not, in former times, whether in a sieve or in straw, there lived one Khakan - a ruler from the Turkic dynasty. No matter how many children were born to him, they all died... Finally, the Khakan’s daughter was born.
- What should I do so that at least this daughter of mine survives? - the Khakan asked his entourage. “My Khakan, we need to build a cave underground and hide the girl there - there is no other way out,” answered the old woman standing next to her.
Hakan did just that. He ordered to dig a dungeon and place the baby there... Every day, morning and evening, the servants visited the girl. Time passed, and the poor thing became the most beautiful girl in the world. When she turned fifteen, she began to get bored in her dungeon. One day she arranged all the tables and chairs on them, then climbed up and broke the glass in the ceiling of the cave. She looked out the window and saw that seas, mountains, trees stretched out in front of her, and birds were sitting on the trees. “Ah, so the dungeon is not the only thing in this world!” — the girl thought and went back down into the cave. In the evening the maid came to her and, seeing the broken window, asked:
— Who broke the glass?
“I am,” the girl answered.
- Why did you do this? If your father Khakan finds out, he will be angry.
“I won’t live in this dungeon anymore,” says the girl. The maid ran to the hakan and told him everything.
- What should I do now? - the Khakan asked his entourage.
“We need to let her out, but not right away: let her walk a little, and then return to the cave again,” they advised.
Khakan called the slave and ordered:
- Bring my daughter into the world! And when she walks a little, take her back to the cave.
The slave took the girl to the valley of roses. The air there was fragrant, nightingales sang on the branches. A quiet spring breeze caressed the beauty's hair. The Valley of Roses lay on the very shore of the sea, under the golden rays of the sun. The poor thing looked at the sea, at the flowers, came to her father and said:
“My father, build me on this beautiful sea a crystal palace with a gilded floor, with diamond and gold furniture... If you don’t do what I ask, I will drown in the sea!” Everyone calls me “The Sultana from the Dungeon.” I don’t want to live in a cave anymore, I want to stay in a sunny world.
The padishah promised to fulfill his daughter’s request, gave the order, and in one year a crystal palace was built in the middle of the sea. They told the hakan that everything was done. He went to look - he saw a crystal palace, so beautiful that it blinded his eyes. Such beauty cannot be described in words - the palace sparkled for the whole world...
The daughter also came and kissed her father’s hand.
“My daughter, your palace has been built.” Take as many slaves as you need and live there happily,” said the Khakan.
And the sultana took several young slaves and went to live in the crystal palace.
The fame of this palace spread throughout the world. The son of the Yemeni Khakan also heard about the beauty of the palace. He said:
- Father, let me go to Istanbul! I want to look at the crystal palace, which has no equal in the world.
Father allowed. The young Shahzadeh boarded a ship with several comrades and sailed towards Istanbul. From afar they saw how the radiance of the crystal palace illuminated the sea. Such shine blinds the eyes...
“This is probably the crystal palace,” said Shahzade. We approached the palace, swam around it - the Shahzade still couldn’t believe his eyes. By evening the ship dropped anchor near the palace. Here the sultana looked at the ship from her window. He sees a handsome young man standing at the stern and looking at the crystal palace. She immediately fell in love with her soul and heart with the young man, handsome as a fourteen-day month, brave as a lion.
And Shahzade, as soon as he saw the girl, lost his feelings from excitement and fell dead. But he did not remain long in the country of the Sultana. He raised his sails and returned to his homeland.
The next day, the sultana began to look for the ship, but she couldn’t find it and burst into tears. She wanted to meet the young man whom she loved with all her heart. The girl came to her father all in tears:
- Father, dear father! Build me a ship made of diamonds, with masts made of yachts. If you don't do this, I'll die.
- As you wish, so it will be! - the padishah answered and gave the order. It took two years to build such a ship. The girl kissed her father's hand and asked:
- Father, allow me to go traveling on this ship.
“My only daughter, do whatever you want,” the father answers.
The girl took forty female slaves and forty brave slaves onto the ship and sailed out to the open sea. The sultana herself ruled the ship, and the old captain helped her. They unfurled the sails and after many days sailed to the shores of Yemen and moored to the shore. The people came running - no one had ever seen such a ship, they stood and looked.
The Khakan of Yemen was informed about the ship. He sent his uncle to meet the travelers. The sultana saw the boat, dressed the whole crew in beautiful clothes, and herself dressed as the captain. The uncle of the Yemeni Khakan went upstairs and asked:
-Who are you?
“I am the son of a merchant,” the sultana answers.
The uncle returned to the palace and told the Khakan of Yemen:
- My Khakan, an alien - the son of a merchant. But this captain has neither a mustache nor a beard, and he himself is as beautiful as a fourteen-day moon. You should go and see for yourself...
The Khakan of Yemen wished to see the captain, got into the boat, and swam to the ship. Then the Sultana dressed the entire crew in yellow clothes and decorated the ship even more. The hakan saw all this, was surprised and returned to his place.
He learned about the arrival of the ship and the shahzade and, too, jumped into the boat and headed towards the ship. The Sultana, noticing the approach of her beloved, dressed the entire team in green. As soon as the boat approached, the shahzade was met and taken to a crystal cabin. But the sultana did not allow herself to be recognized by the Shahzade. He marveled at the wonderful ship and returned to the palace in the evening.
The Sultana went ashore and settled in a small palace. That's how they lived. Shahzade often looked at the captain's palace. One day he suddenly noticed a girl as beautiful as a gazelle looking out of the window. “Apparently this is the captain’s wife,” he thought. And the Sultana, as soon as she saw Shahzade, closed the window and hid... Shahzade fell in love with the girl, dreamed of seeing her again at least once, but could not. One day Shahzadeh said to his mother:
“Mother, in that palace opposite there lives a very beautiful girl, take her this yacht horseshoe as a gift, let her show her face at least once, or I will lose my life.”
Mother willy-nilly agreed. But when she brought the horseshoe to the sultana, she immediately handed it over to her slave.
“My daughter, Shahzadeh sends you greetings and would like to see you at the window in the morning,” said Shahzadeh’s mother.
- What does it mean? - asks the sultana, and looked at the poor woman so much that she was completely confused. She returned and told Shahzadeh everything.
- Take care of your own grief! - she told her son and went to her chambers.
The unfortunate Shahzade cried all night, and in the morning he came to his mother again.
“Have mercy, mother, only you can arrange everything, find some way out,” he began to beg.
“Okay, son, I’ll take my pearl necklace to her as a gift, let’s see what she says,” said the mother.
- You know what to do, mother.
Shahzade's mother, taking the pearls, went back to the palace and presented the necklace to the girl. And in the girl’s room there was a cage with a parrot hanging from the ceiling. The Sultana took the pearls and began to feed them to the parrot. Shahzade's mother was angry, but did not say a word; she returned to the palace and told Shahzade about the girl's antics.
The Shahzade was upset and didn’t sleep a wink that night.
In the morning he went again to his mother.
- Mother, now I have written a letter. Give it to her, maybe she’ll take pity,” he began to ask his mother.
The unfortunate woman went to the palace again. This time she was shown more respect: when she gave the letter, the girl read it and put it on the shelf. The woman, plucking up courage, said:
- Oh, my beautiful daughter! Shahzade continuously sheds tears day and night. Show yourself to my son at least once!
“Madame Valide, I don’t show myself off so easily,” the girl answered.
“You will get everything you want,” the woman insisted.
“Let your son build a golden bridge, make a bed on it and wait for me - then I will come to him,” answered the sultana.
After this, Shahzade's mother left the girl and returned to the palace. Her son met her and asked:
- Well, what did the beauty say?
“She told you to build a golden bridge, and a bed on it, and wait for her there,” the mother answered.
“Okay!” said the Shahzade.
He collected all the gold in his father’s treasury, built a bridge, and planted roses around it. He placed a luxurious bed on the bridge and, having sent to tell the girl about this, began to wait.
The Sultana, as soon as she received this news, dressed up, got ready and went to the bridge. But as soon as she stepped on the bridge, she pricked herself with a rose thorn. Shouting: “Ai, my little face!” — the girl turned and ran into the palace.
- Why did she come back? Find out! - Shahzade asked his mother. The mother went to the girl.
- Daughter, why did you return from the bridge? she asked.
“I pricked my face with a rose thorn, I don’t need your bridge or shahzade,” the girl answered.
Shahzade's mother got angry:
- What else do you need? You are still dissatisfied!..
- Oh mother, should I tell you the truth? Place a gold candlestick at one end of the bridge and a silver one at the other. After that, let the Shahzade die, dig a grave for him near the bridge and lower him there. Then I’ll come up and stand over him - let him see enough! - says the sultana.
Shahzade's mother was frightened and angry, but without saying anything she returned to the palace.
- What else does she want, mother? - Shahzade asked.
“Now she wants you to place a gold candlestick at one end of the golden bridge, a silver one at the other, and then for you to die and go to bed, then she will come and show herself to you,” answered the mother.
- I’ll do everything, let’s see what happens! - Shahzade said and did everything as the girl wanted.
And the sultana equipped the ship, loaded all the things from the palace onto it, and then climbed onto the bridge and approached the grave:
- Get up, my shahzade, let's go to the ship!
The shahzade rose from the grave and went with her to the ship.
- What were these tricks of yours? - Shahzade asks.
- Why did you sail to the crystal castle in Istanbul, and when I fell in love with you, you ran back without saying anything? “Love for you brought me to these lands,” she said.
They apologized to each other, Shahzadeh asked his father for permission, and they went to Istanbul together. The Sultana told her father about everything. They celebrated the wedding for forty days and forty nights, and on the forty-first day they achieved the fulfillment of their desires.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru