The Carpenter, the Goldsmith, the Tailor and the Priest

Between 1909 and 1911, Richard Dawkins traveled extensively in Cappadocia, Turkey, documenting Greek dialects and collecting folktales. (For more on his journeys, see this essay by Deborah Harlan.) In 1916, he published the results of his research in the volume Modern Greek in Asia Minor. The following is Dawkins’s translation (pp. 465-67) of a story told by a Greek-speaking Muslim named Yusúf in the village of Phárasa, today Çamlıca. 

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He rose up and again he rose up. In a time of old there were four men. One was a carpenter, one was a goldsmith, and one a tailor and one a good man of God. They went to a wood. In that wood there were many wolves. And they were afraid. They said, “Let us sleep in turn.”

The three went to sleep. The carpenter watched. He saw a big tree. He rose up; he cut a tree. He brought it; he made it into a human being, exactly a human being. He went to sleep. The tailor rose up. He saw that there is a log there. He took it. He saw that it is exactly a human being. And the jeweller put bracelets and necklaces on it. And the jeweller went to sleep. And the tailor rose up. He made a suit of clothes. The tailor went to sleep. And the good man of God rose up. He saw that there is a log leaning against the wall. He took it. He saw that it is an image. He said, “O Allah, O Holy Virgin, give this girl life!” God gave it life.

They rose up in the morning. The day dawned. The carpenter quarrelled. He said, “I made her.” And the jeweller said, “No, it was I who put on her silver bracelets and gold coins. I will take her.” And the tailor said, “No, I will take her. I dressed her in clothes.” They quarrelled among themselves.

They said, “We will go to get advice.” They went on and on. Whilst they were going, they met a dervish. They said, “I made this girl. But this man put clothes upon her, this man again put bracelets upon her, this man again gave her life.” The dervish said, “What are you saying? This was my own daughter. Where did you find her? And they said, “Surely you are mad, master.” They said, “Come, we must go; and you with us.” They became five in the company after this.

They went. They met a dervish. The dervish said, “This is my own wife. Where did you find her?” “What! Surely you are mad, we made her oursaelves.” They became six after this.

They went to the judge. And the judge said, “It is my own wife.” He said, “Where did you find her?”

The council gathered together. They could not discover what to do. They said, “Go to that tree.” They went to the tree. The girl leaned up against that tree. The tree split. The girl went into it. The tree closed up again.