Kay\u00e7\u0131 fell silent here. There was a long silence.<\/p>\n
Nothing could be heard now except the crackling of the fire. It was as if even the moon in the sky had drawn closer, waiting for the story to continue. Kay\u00e7\u0131 gently touched the strings of the top\u015fur; the sound that emerged this time was different from the previous ones. It was thinner, more taut\u2026 It resembled the sound a string makes just before it snaps.<\/p>\n
Then the shepherd raised his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Irk\u0131l\u2019s name grew,\u201d he said, \u201cG\u00f6k began to hear him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just then, the wind swept over the fire. The flames bent for a brief moment.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u00dcr\u00fcng Ay\u0131\u011f Toyon, sitting in the whiteness of the ninth floor, began to hear the same name spoken in the language of humans.\u201d
\nIf a child recovered, they would say, \u201cIrk\u0131l.\u201d
\nThey used to say, \u201cIf a dead person took a breath, they\u2019d say \u2018Irk\u0131l.\u2019\u201d
\nIf a woman were to awaken from a dark dream, they would say she had a "Irk\u0131l."
\n\u201cAnd over time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 narrowed his eyes here.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Some people began to forget the name of the sky and speak only of His name.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the elders in the room bowed his head without realizing it.<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 continued:<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd one night\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Top\u015fur\u2019s voice deepened.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026The paths of the heavens have opened.\u201d<\/p>\n
They say that as Irk\u0131l sat at his drum, the fire suddenly turned blue. The shadows inside the tent lengthened. Then a white light descending from the heavens filled Irk\u0131l\u2019s tent from top to bottom. When people looked in from the outside, they saw that the shadows passing behind the felt were not human shadows; for some of the shadows had horns on their heads, and wings hung from the shoulders of others.<\/p>\n
And that night, \u00dcr\u00fcng Ay\u0131\u011f Toyon summoned Irk\u0131l to his presence.<\/p>\n
Here, the sound of the kay\u00e7\u0131 grew softer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey say that Irk\u0131l ascended through the heavens with his drum. He passed through the first heaven. He passed through the second heaven. He walked among the stars.\u201d
\n\u201cThe light of S\u00fct-Ak-K\u00f6l fell upon his shoulders. And finally, he arrived before the throne within the whiteness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strings of the top\u015fur fell silent. The kay\u00e7\u0131 was now almost whispering.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u00dcr\u00fcng Ay\u0131\u011f Toyon looked at her.\u201d<\/p>\n
A long silence\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he said, \u2018O kam\u2026 Who gave you this power?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The children sitting by the fire were now sitting motionless.<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 closed his eyes before Irk\u0131l could answer. Then he spoke in that dark voice that came from the deepest part of his throat:<\/p>\n
\u201cIrk\u0131l raised his head. And he said\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He struck the strings of the top\u015fur hard.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018I recognize no higher power.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The fire suddenly crackled.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Whatever I do\u2026 I do it with my own power. I am Irk\u0131l, who has unlocked the secrets of the earth and the heavens! My power is equal to that of the great creators; even death fears me!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
At that moment, it was as if the night had shrunk. And the guide, lowering his voice until it was barely audible, uttered the final sentence:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment those words were spoken\u2026 the silence of the sky changed.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the last words from the Kay\u00e7\u0131\u2019s mouth still trembled above the fire, the tribe held its breath. The strings of the Top\u015fur emitted a faint hum, as if vibrating on their own. The Kay\u00e7\u0131 bowed his head. Then, his voice\u2014this time coming from much deeper within\u2014began to speak:<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when Irk\u0131l spoke those words\u2026 the whiteness of the sky darkened.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wind suddenly changed direction. The flame of the fire bent toward the ground. The moon hid behind a cloud. One of the children clung to his mother\u2019s arm in fear. Because the storyteller\u2019s voice was no longer recounting an epic\u2014it seemed to be bringing that moment back to life.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u00dcr\u00fcng Ay\u0131\u011f Toyon\u2019s gaze changed. The silence of the nine heavens grew heavy. The stars did not stir from their places. But their light faded.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here, the kay\u00e7\u0131 struck the strings of the top\u015fur forcefully.<\/p>\n
A murmur rose.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He lowered his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026The sky split open.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that moment, the fire in the hut suddenly flared up; the sounds coming from the depths of the forest began anew. It was as if the epic being told had begun to seep into the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cLightning struck the earth like iron whips.\u201d
\nThe mountains roared.
\nThe waters have receded.
\nThe wolves have stopped howling.
\n\u201cThe horses knelt.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the storyteller\u2019s voice grew heavier, the expressions on the faces of the people gathered around the fire began to change. For the anger being described was not human anger; it was the order\u2019s own response to its own wound.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u00dcr\u00fcng Ay\u0131\u011f Toyon said:
\n\u201cA path is laid out for a person\u2026 But if a person mistakes themselves for the path, the heavens will cease to carry them.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then a fire flared up around Irk\u0131l.<\/p>\n
This fire was unlike the fire of dry wood. It had no color; at times it appeared blue, at times white, and at times like a darkness the human eye could not name. When the flames engulfed Irk\u0131l\u2019s body, people expected him to scream. But Irk\u0131l did not scream.<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 was silent for a long time. Then he spoke slowly:<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause some fires do not touch the body\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cIt burns away the excess within a person.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strings of the Top\u015fur vibrated deeply.<\/p>\n
\u201cIrk\u0131l\u2019s bones didn\u2019t crack.\u201d
\nThe meat wasn\u2019t charred.
\n\u201cBut the name was split up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 fixed his gaze on the fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the nature of that fire was never fully understood.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice had now almost turned into a whisper.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome say that \u00dcr\u00fcng Ay\u0131\u011f Toyon set it ablaze.\u201d
\n\u201cSome say it was his own pride that consumed Irk\u0131l.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 fell silent here.<\/p>\n
He was silent for a long time. He simply touched the strings of the top\u015fur gently, as if listening to a sound coming from a place far away. Sparks rising from the fire mingled with the night, and the wind carried them over the tents and into the darkness. Then the kay\u00e7\u0131 raised his head; in his eyes, one could sense that the fire he had just described was still burning.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut\u2026\u201d he said. \u201cFire couldn\u2019t destroy Irk\u0131l.\u201d<\/p>\n
The strings of the Top\u015fur resonated deeply.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery spark that leapt from that mighty fire fell to a different corner of the world. Some were swept to the lonely slopes of high mountains, some to the banks of mist-shrouded rivers, and some to the destinies of children not yet born\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
As Kay\u00e7\u0131 spoke, his voice slowed; it was as if he were weaving what he was saying into the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd wherever the spark fell, a new flame was kindled.\u201d<\/p>\n
They say that if a child stares into the fire for days without speaking to anyone\u2026
\nIf a young girl saw the layers of the heavens in her dream and, upon waking, spoke words in an ancient language she didn\u2019t understand\u2026
\nIf a hunter, while walking through the forest, began to hear a sound coming from among the trees, people would bow their heads and whisper: \u201cIrk\u0131l\u2019s spark has touched it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 tapped the body of the top\u015fur lightly with his palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why,\u201d he said, \u201call the kam in the world are children of the same fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fire crackled.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome picked up their drum in the shade of a tree.\u201d
\nSome sang their first song by a riverbank.
\nFor some, the mountain spirit has called to their soul.
\n\u201cSome were carried off by a fox in the middle of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simana\u2019s gaze shifted slightly.<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 continued speaking without turning his head toward him, as if he hadn\u2019t noticed:<\/p>\n
\u201cIrk\u0131l Ata\u2019s body disintegrated in the fire.\u201d
\n\u201cBut the soul\u2026 remained on that great bridge between heaven and earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time, Top\u015fur\u2019s voice came out very soft.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow he is the ancestor of all the kam.\u201d
\n\u201cHe sometimes appears in the form of an animal to lost souls.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 gazed intently at the fire for a long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes he becomes an old wolf.\u201d
\nHe walks silently\u2026 Turns and glances back once\u2026 Then disappears into the darkness.
\nSometimes it takes the form of a black bird; when a person hears its song, they begin to hear the voice within themselves as well.
\n\u201cSometimes it appears as a deer with antlers reaching toward the sky; those who follow it either find their way or lose their minds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131\u2019s voice grew much quieter.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut most of all\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a long silence.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026He comes in the guise of a fox.\u201d<\/p>\n
Simana\u2019s fingers clasped together involuntarily.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the fox does not force its way through.\u201d
\nChange direction.
\nPeople think they\u2019re following him\u2026
\n\u201cYet the fox leads one through the very heart of one\u2019s own destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kay\u00e7\u0131 closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd on some nights\u2026\u201d
\nWhen a deer spots two red eyes deep within the dark forest\u2026
\n\u201cYou realize that Irk\u0131l Ata is still traveling the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Kay\u00e7\u0131 spoke his final words, he did not touch the strings of the top\u015fur. He left his hands resting on the instrument and bowed his head slightly. The crackling of the fire became audible once more; yet even that sound seemed to have changed slightly. For when a great epic comes to an end, one knows they are still sitting in the same night, yet feels they are no longer the same person.<\/p>\n
No one spoke right away. Even the children were quiet.<\/p>\n
The people sitting around the fire seemed as though they had just witnessed an ancient door open briefly for a moment. One of the elders exhaled slowly. A woman remained motionless for a long time, unaware that she had set the bowl she was holding down on the ground.<\/p>\n
Simana, meanwhile, sat motionless.<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t get the moment when Kay\u00e7\u0131 said \u201cfox\u201d out of his mind. That gaze deep within the dark forest\u2026 That crimson shadow that stopped in the middle of the path on hunting day and didn\u2019t turn back, but simply stared\u2026 Then the silence by the lake\u2026 The light on the third floor\u2026 He thought of the spirits passing each other without touching on the surface of S\u00fct-Ak-K\u00f6l. Inside him, certain fragments that had long been separated from one another were quietly shifting into place.<\/p>\n
And just then\u2026 Simana saw a movement in the darkness where the fire couldn\u2019t reach. Two small lights became visible among the shadows. A pair of amber-colored lights\u2026<\/p>\n
The rest of the crowd hadn\u2019t noticed a thing. The children were still huddled together, captivated by the epic tale the storyteller had recounted, while the elders sat with their heads bowed in thought. But Simana recognized that look.<\/p>\n
Just then, the sound of the slide rose again.<\/p>\n
But this time, it wasn\u2019t as if she were telling an epic tale\u2026 She spoke as if she were sharing ancient wisdom with only the person who needed to hear it:<\/p>\n
\u201cOne should not fear kindling the fire; one should fear believing oneself to be the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fox paused for just a moment longer in the darkness. Then it turned its head slightly. And it walked off, blending into the night. Simana did not follow.<\/p>\n
Because she now knew that some guides don\u2019t lead you along their path. They merely remind you that the path is still open.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kay\u00e7\u0131 fell silent here. There was a long silence. Nothing could be heard now except the crackling of the fire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[412],"tags":[428,567,427],"class_list":["post-3261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-simanas-diaries","tag-shaman","tag-turkish-epics","tag-turkish-mythology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/terradisimana.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}