The Lentil Boy Who Opened the Treasury Door

🔑 The Lentil Boy Who Opened the Treasury Door

Once upon a time, there was a boy in a country. This boy was as small as a lentil, so everyone called him the Lentil Boy (Mercimek Çocuk).

His mother and father couldn't let him leave the house because he was so tiny. The Lentil Boy played every day in the spot reserved for him, and when he got tired, he would fall asleep right there. When he slept, his mother would come and cover him, never taking her eyes off him.

One day, the Lentil Boy begged:

"Mother, please, please take me outside!"

His mother agreed: "Okay."

His mother went outside with the Lentil Boy. They sat by a stream. His mother sang songs to her son and talked to him. The Lentil Boy walked around his mother, jumped over the grass, and sang the songs his mother taught him.

While they were having fun like this, a vulture suddenly swooped down from the sky, grabbed the Lentil Boy, and carried him away!

The Lentil Boy shouted: "Mother, save me!" but it was no use.

The vulture soared up and disappeared from sight. After flying in the sky for a while, the Lentil Boy saw the vulture land on a hard rock at the top of a mountain. The vulture placed the tightly-held Lentil Boy in its nest and suddenly flew away.

The Lentil Boy was very happy about this. He looked around from the nest and saw his village, which the vulture had snatched him from, far in the distance. He realized it was impossible to climb down from the nest. He also knew that if the vulture returned, it would eat him.

He immediately hid among the twigs and leaves inside the nest.

In the evening, the vulture returned and landed in its nest. It stayed there all night. When it flew off in the morning, the Lentil Boy quietly climbed between the vulture's wings without letting it notice.

The vulture began to descend towards the village below. Finally, it landed on the bank of the stream where the Lentil Boy and his mother had been sitting.

The Lentil Boy immediately slid down the vulture's feathers and jumped off. It was now easy for him to go home. He hid among the grass so the vulture wouldn't see him. After a while, the vulture flew away.

The Lentil Boy walked for days, hungry, moving between the grass and stones until he reached his home. When he arrived, he found his mother weeping profusely.

He immediately said to his mother:

"Mother, I'm home!"

His mother jumped up when she heard her son's voice. She came and hugged her son. She sent word to his father. The father was also overjoyed to see his son safe and sound.

Days chased days. The Lentil Boy never left the house again, not even taking a single step outside.

One day, he heard a crier shouting. The crier was announcing to the people:

"Hear ye, hear ye! The iron doors of our Sultan's treasury are locked! All the blacksmiths and engineers in the country have gathered and tried, but they cannot open it. Know that the person who can open the door will be given as much gold from the treasury as they want!"

The Lentil Boy said to his father:

"Father, please take me. I can open that door."

The father was surprised and asked his son:

"How will you open the door?"

The Lentil Boy said:

"Put me inside under the door. Tie a very long rope around my waist. Do exactly what I tell you from inside, and don't worry about the rest."

His father accepted his son's offer. The next day, the father took what his son had asked for. He put the Lentil Boy in his pocket and went to the palace.

He said to the guards:

"Take me to the Sultan."

The guards took the man to the Sultan. The Sultan asked the man:

"Why did you want to meet me?"

The man replied:

"I will open the treasury door."

The Sultan said:

"No one could open it. Will you open it?"

The man said: "Yes, my Sultan."

Upon this, the Sultan called the guards:

"Guards, go to the treasury room immediately! This man will open the doors."

The man went to the door. He took the Lentil Boy out of his pocket. He wrapped the rope he brought around the boy's waist. He let his son inside under the door.

After a while, the Lentil Boy came out from under the door and said to his father:

"Pick me up and put me inside that keyhole."

The Lentil Boy tied the rope to the key. He threw the end of the rope inside the hole and went back inside under the door himself.

His father put the key into the hole. The Lentil Boy pulled it inside. The key found its place without getting stuck. The Lentil Boy's father turned the key, and the door opened!

The soldiers immediately ran to tell the Sultan:

"My Sultan, they have opened the door!"

The Sultan ran to the front of the treasury room. He was overjoyed to see the open door. He immediately ordered the head treasurer:

"Give them double their weight in gold!"

The father and son were given twice their weight in gold. The father and son took their gold and returned home. The Lentil Boy was very happy to have made his family proud by succeeding in a great task.

They ate, drank, and lived happily ever after. I left them there and came back. I don't know what happened next.