Read the Tale of Fatima with Gold

Once upon a time, there was and there was not, in olden times, amidst sifting of grain and straw, there was a girl named Golden Fatma. This Fatma had a stepmother. The stepmother did not want to live with Fatma. She told her husband that she did not want to live with Fatma. Fatma's father couldn't bring himself to abandon his daughter, but he also didn't want to leave his wife.

The husband, unable to withstand his wife's pressure, finally took his daughter and set out on a journey. When they arrived at an unknown village, he left Fatma there without her noticing and returned home. Poor Fatma searched everywhere for her father but could not find him. She went little, she went far, she went over valleys and straight over hills, and then crossed the mountains. Behind the mountain, she saw a house with a light on. This house belonged to an old grandmother. Fatma knocked on the door and said:

"Grandmother, could you please give me a sip of water and a bite of bread? I feel like I will faint from hunger and thirst."

The Grandmother replied to Fatma: "If you help me with the housework, I will certainly give you some."

Fatma cleaned the old woman's house, and the grandmother gave her water and something to eat. The old grandmother's house was very dirty, but Fatma had a heart that saw beauty in everything. She never complained about anything. The grandmother and Fatma began to live together.

One day, Fatma said to the grandmother: "I miss my father very much, Grandmother."

The grandmother asked Fatma where her homeland was. Since Fatma didn't know the way, she replied: "You hear a rooster crowing far away, don't you? It's there."

The grandmother was touched by Fatma's beautiful heart and decided to help her. She took Fatma to the edge of a stream. She told her: "You wait here by this stream. I am going to sleep for a bit. Soon, black, red, blue, and yellow water will pass through this stream in sequence. When the yellow water comes, please call out to me, alright?"

Fatma listened intently to the grandmother. After a while, the waters the grandmother mentioned came and went, and just as the yellow water arrived, Fatma called out to the grandmother. The grandmother immediately pushed the girl into the water: "Dip in here and come out on the other side," she said. "Don't be afraid; you will find your home where this water ends."

Indeed, Fatma went into one side of the stream and came out the other, just as the grandmother had said. Her entire body was covered in gold. When she came out of the stream, she also found the way to her house. As Fatma approached the house, the rooster on the roof began to crow:

"Ü rü üüü üü ü! Golden Fatma is coming!"

Fatma's stepmother heard this and screamed insults at the rooster. At that moment, she looked and saw that Fatma was covered in gold! The woman asked in astonishment: "Fatma, how did this happen? Where did you find all this gold?"

Fatma told her stepmother everything, from beginning to end. The stepmother was both surprised and delighted by what she heard. As soon as her husband came home, she told him what had happened. Then she said to her husband:

"I want you to leave my daughter in the same place where you left Fatma. Let her go and be covered in gold and return," she said.

The next day, the father left his other daughter, Ayşe, in the same place where he had left Fatma. The girl wandered over hills and valleys until she saw the old grandmother's house behind the mountain. She knocked on the door and became the grandmother's guest. The grandmother also asked this girl to help her with the housework, but the girl did not help the old grandmother with any of her chores. After staying at the grandmother's house for about a month, she said:

"I miss my mother very much; please help me and send me back to my mother."

The old woman agreed to the girl's request. She went with her to the stream. She told the girl: "You wait here by this stream. I am going to sleep for a bit. Soon, red, blue, yellow, and black water will pass through this stream in sequence. When the black water comes, please call out to me, alright?"

The girl called out to the old woman when the black water arrived. The grandmother said: "Dip in here and come out on the opposite side," and she left the girl in the water. "You will see your house when you come out of the water," she said.

When the girl entered the water, her entire body was covered in lice and nits. Ayşe was now 'Ayşe with lice and nits'. When Ayşe came out of the water, she saw her house. She ran towards her home. As she approached the house, the rooster on the roof crowed again:

"Ü rü üüü üü ü! Ayşe with nits is coming!"

Ayşe's mother heard the rooster's voice. She was furious about what she heard. She went outside and met her daughter. Indeed, her daughter was covered in lice and nits. The woman asked her daughter what had happened. The girl confessed what she had done. Ayşe's mother and father realized their mistakes. They apologized to Fatma. They also tried to help Ayşe, the 'Ayşe with lice and nits', to have a beautiful heart like Fatma.

Fatma forgave them. From that day on, they lived happily ever after.