At first glance, the part of the tale about the king’s daughter appears unnecessary.  Is it?  The daughter lives at home with her father, the king.  Therefore, she is unmarried and a virgin—a symbol of purity and family honor.  She has a special, harmonious relationship with nature.  She takes nature’s gifts and converts them into cultural necessities—clothing and food. 

The hill that provided the grazing for her milch goats also supplied the small rock that humbled the vain king, who attempted to overcome nature.

The Turkish folk have produced a great variety of tales in which some poor, but virtuous person miraculously comes upon a treasure.  The following was told to me by an elderly Susurluk peasant woman.

The Haunted House

Once there was an elderly couple who lived in a small, one-room house.  They argued and fought constantly.  Each would destroy the other’s belongings.   He would get angry and break her glass, and she would break his.  She would get angry and rip his quilt.  He would do the same to hers.  Finally, nothing was left but an empty house.  Everything else was either broken, burned, or ruined.

The woman was originally from Bandirma [a town on the Sea of Marmara].  Her husband had always promised to find her a nice house there, but he never did.  At this point, the woman left her husband and went to Bandirma on her own.

In Bandirma there was a haunted house, full of djinns.  Everyone who entered it died, and the neighbors would have to come to remove the bodies.  Now the woman went to Bandirma and moved into this house.  Seeing how poor she was, a neighbor from across the way brought her pilaf, soup, and bread.

In the middle of the night a black cat entered the house.  “Ah, my baby lamb,” said the woman to the cat.  “Where did you come from?  Let me give you some food.  Go ahead, eat, eat.”  She gave the cat some of the neighbor’s food.