DEUTSCH TÜRKÇE ENGLISH

An unusual recovery
Fairy Tales passed on by word of mouth
from Uçhisar, Cappadocia


An unusual recovery

A serious illness plagued one Uçhisar villager for a long time. The poor man could not find relief with any medicine he received from his neighbours and friends. One day he decided to leave his bed to find somebody to help him regain his health.

When the sick man saw a friend, he explained about his suffering. The friend naturally wanted to offer his help and reassuringly said:  "Don’t worry. I will write a muska for you and your illness will go away.”Immediately the friend sat down, picked up pen and paper, and with a deep breath and a serious expression, started to write. Interested in what his friend was writing, the sick man stood very close to him, although unfortunately he could neither read nor write.

When the friend had finished his writing, he carefully took the strip of paper and folded it neatly. In the end he was holding a small triangle of paper between his fingers, which he solemnly handed over saying: "You should carry this with you at all times and you will see that your illness will soon be gone!"

Strongly believing what his friend had said, that the muska would make him recover, he did as he was told and constantly thought about the power of the words written down.Incredibly, it did not take long before his health improved, and he became stronger and stronger until one day his illness had gone.Overwhelmed by the strength of the healing words, he desperately wanted to know what was written. He went to see the imam, the prayer leader of the Uçhisar mosque, who of course was able to read and write. The previously sick man asked him to reveal the mystery.

In the muska it was written:"Illness, don’t come over this dog againor you could end up stuck to him forever!"

…a strong faith has been known to cure a good many ailments!

A muska was a very common talisman hidden in a house for the protection of the inhabitants (see Koran Kalesi, Page….) or carried by an individual for his or her personal protection. It was usually written in Arabic by an imam who wrote verses from the Koran, specially chosen for a particular purpose.