The Legend of the Alageyik
By Aysel K. Basci
This story is based on an Anatolian legend that has been recounted orally for many centuries. Different versions of the story exist. What follows is largely drawn from a Turkish article in the Ergenekun website dated March 2021.
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Halil is a tall, slender, handsome young man. Is he a great shot or what? He is obsessed with deer hunting and often swings his rifle over his shoulder before heading to the Gâvur Mountains (Taurus Mountains in southern Anatolia). If he was gone for a day or two or even five, it would be one thing, but he often stays in the mountains for a week to ten days. He leaves his mother and fiancée behind. His fiancée Zeynep is like an angel, totally devoted to Halil. She is terrified that Halil will go into the mountains and not come back. Meanwhile, Halil’s mother is completely against his deer hunting. Whenever Halil prepares his food and throws his saddlebag on the back of his horse, she clings to the horse’s halter and begs him, “Come on son, give it up! Don’t go deer hunting. This will not end well. Don’t you know how badly it ended for your father? What are you going to do with all these deerskins? I don't want any of this. Our ancestors believed that deer hunting is wrong. If it’s not today, then tomorrow the deer hunter will get into trouble. For God’s sake, son, give it up!”
Alas, this is Halil. He is obsessed with deer hunting. How can he give it up? He mounts his horse, yet his heart aches. He tells his mother, “I will go, but this is the last time. I promise you: I will never hunt deer again.” When she realizes it’s no use, his mother yells after him, “Son, since you insist on going, at least, don’t shoot a baby deer or any does with babies. Don’t break apart their families. Don’t make them orphans.”
His mother stands on one side, his fiancée on the other, and both beg him not to go. But it’s no use. Halil is not deterred; he does what he wants anyway. If his hunting goes well, he ties the red deer across his back, which fills him with pleasure. Upon his return, the villagers build a fire in the village center, its smoke reaching high into the sky. Once the flames die down and the wood becomes smoldering embers, they throw the deer on the fire and soon enjoy such festivities, such a feast.... Contented sighs intermix with exclamations of wonder. Everyone comes together in a circle around the fire. They enjoy the venison as their conversations fill with laughter. All the while they praise Halil’s hunting skills. Some say, “Bravo Halil! Nobody in this Çukur region is as good of a shot as you.” Others flatter Halil, saying, “You fully deserve Zeynep. She is your halal for being such a good hunter!”
However, Halil’s hunting does not always go well. Sometimes he wanders through vast mountains and slopes without shooting a single deer. Sometimes he will see a red deer, the Alageyik—oh my goodness!
Whenever Halil encounters this Alageyik, he shoots nothing on that day. And this Alageyik, she is really something else! Shrewd, swift … a truly red-blooded deer! As soon as she notices Halil, she climbs on top of a rock and stares at him as if challenging him: “Come, shoot me!” But remember, this is Halil we are talking about. He immediately takes his position, preparing to shoot. Just as he aims, this Alageyik disappears. Halil looks and discovers that she has jumped to another nearby rock. He turns, crawls closer, and again takes aim. Not a chance! The Alageyik jumps from rock to rock until she disappears, leaving Halil to search for her high and low. Eventually, he gets tired and lies down to rest under a shady tree. To make a long story short, when Halil runs into the Alageyik, he does not fire even a single bullet.
On such days, Halil dreams about what he has heard about the deer. Some say that certain deer are sinister. They believe these deer are actually djinns and fairies disguised as deer, fooling the hunters and getting them to run from hill to hill chasing after them. Halil definitely thinks the Alageyik is sinister. Sometimes when he sees her, he considers giving up hunting altogether. However, his deep passion for hunting will never allow him to hang up his rifle for good. Halil is convinced that the Alageyik is peculiar, yet when he encounters her, he can’t help but chase after her. When he observes how swiftly Alageyik disappears from the top of one rock only to reappear on another, his conviction becomes even stronger. On such occasions, he clearly remembers Zeynep’s begging him not to go and mumbles to himself, “I will wait until the wedding. After that, I will give it up. These deer are very strange anyway. I just don’t get it!”
One day, as usual, Halil climbs the rocks on his horse, his rifle hanging over his shoulder. What does he see? The Alageyik is on a rock right in front of him. Next to her is a fawn. Its antlers are not yet grown, its hair is gleaming; it is unweaned and shy.
Halil immediately throws himself from his horse. He aims at the rock and pulls the trigger. The fawn falls, floundering. Halil then turns his rifle to the Alageyik and aims, but she jumps to another rock and disappears. Halil gathers up the downed fawn and returns home.
His mother is furious. She lets him have it with both barrels. Once again, she urges Halil to give up hunting. She pleads with him, “One who separates a mother and a baby doesn’t end well. Please, son, give it up!” But it is no use… She is speaking in vain because what she feared has already happened. The truth is that Halil is full of remorse. But it is too late; nothing can be done. After killing the fawn, he doesn’t go hunting for a long time—not until the eve of his wedding! He doesn’t even touch his rifle until the night he is to wed. He doesn’t touch his rifle, but his eyes and heart are still in the mountains. His ears long to hear the sounds of the deer. He yearns with all of his heart to unite with Zeynep and then go deer hunting. Sometimes these two yearnings mix together so strongly that he can’t separate them. Just as the days wear out each other, his longings have a way of fueling each other. Halil’s yearning for hunting only grows…
On the wedding day, the festivities begin. On one side the musicians play their davuls and zurnas; on the other, guests sing folk songs to the music of saz. The wedding lasts three days and three nights. Men dance the halay and other folk dances while the women entertain themselves elsewhere. The guests recite poems and play games. They pile wood collected from the mountains in the center of the village.
They build a huge sinsin fire and dance sinsin around it. They participate in the traditional wrestling matches. On the third night, it is time for the traditional shaving of the groom. The barber shaves Halil slowly as musicians play their fiddles and tambourines. As is the custom, the barber splashes cologne on the observers for a tip. No, don’t look down on such a custom. These tips are quite significant. In fact, the groom’s relatives and friends compete with each other to give the largest tip.
As is tradition, after the groom is shaved, it is the groomsmen’s turn to sit in the barber’s chair. Their shaving is also a part of the ceremony. Next, the groom—the groomsmen by his side—leaves the barbershop and starts the walk home. A group of young men, spectators standing along the side of the road, yell repeatedly, “Shall we throw you?” Another group asks, “Where?” Then, everyone loudly answers together: “Each man to the bosom of his beloved!” They pull out their guns and fire into the sky. Such activity continues until they reach the groom’s home.
Once they arrive, the groomsmen push Halil inside. Zeynep, dressed in her wedding gown, is waiting for Halil at the door of their nuptial chamber. He enters the chamber, but suddenly, his ears fill with a buzzing sound and his eyes detect a dark shadow. He hears only this one sound. It is the sound of the deer, and, it is coming from somewhere nearby. He stops, turning toward the sound. He has no doubt—it is the deer! He can recognize this noise even from a distance it takes three days to walk. Inside the chamber, Halil stops. He curses, “What the devil? Damn it!” He takes another step. The noise only gets louder and closer.
He cannot bear it any longer. He grabs his rifle from the wall and rushes outside, shouting to Zeynep, “I’ll be right back.” He listens. The deer is moving away. Halil chases after it. The sound moves toward the Gâvur Mountains. Halil follows. With each step he advances, the sound moves further away. He reaches the Gâvur Mountains, and what does he see? The Alageyik is on top of a rock directly in front of him, staring down at him. In the moonlight, her skin glows. She looks at Halil mockingly. Halil dives next to a rock and aims. Just as he is about to pull the trigger, the Alageyik bolts away.
He has lost her!
Moments later, he hears the Alageyik nearby. Halil moves and finds the Alageyik on top of a rock. This rock is quite the rock, surrounded by steep cliffs on three sides. But Halil is too busy to notice the cliffs. He dives to the ground, aims, and pulls the trigger. The Alageyik falls. In his excitement, Halil is overjoyed as he thinks to himself, I am united with Zeynep and I get to hunt deer too. He rushes to where the Alageyik fell, but just as he reaches her, the Alageyik stands up and gives Halil a forceful kick. His rifle dangles in the air. Within seconds, both Halil and his rifle fall to the bottom of the steep cliff.
Meanwhile, in their nuptial chamber, Zeynep still waits. She waits and waits. Eventually she loses her patience and runs to the wall where Halil’s rifle usually hangs. It is empty. She rushes outside, still wearing her wedding gown. She explains the situation to the groomsmen. Everyone is curious, but they are also worried about Halil. The sun is about to rise. They ask one another, “Would a groom stay out the night of his nuptials? Something must have happened to him.” The young villagers break up into several groups and head to the mountains in search of Halil. Step by step, they look everywhere.
They say that when the villagers and Zeynep, still in her wedding gown with the traditional shimmering red veil, reach the cliff from where Halil fell, they can hear him moaning at the bottom of the cliff. They consider throwing a rope down to try to save him, but Halil’s voice soon tapers off until he falls completely silent. Alas, poor Zeynep! She looks at her red veil, then at Halil at the bottom of the cliff covered in blood. She then throws herself from the cliff, screaming, “Without you, life is not worth living!” She falls near her beloved Halil.
They say that you can still hear a voice around those rocks. It hums louder and louder until it turns into a ballad. Those who hear it say it is Halil’s despondent voice vowing to never hunt deer again.
I went hunting for a deer
The deer pulled me to her ridge
I will never hunt again, that's clear
Go back brothers, I will remain here.
When I arrived, the rock was covered with snow
The snow has since melted away
But my wrists will rot on this rock
Go back brothers, I will remain here.
My rope remains hanging from the rock
Her dress is still folded away in the chest
My bride, in our nuptial chamber, is still cross
Go back brothers, I will remain here.
Put up a tent at the bottom of the ridge
Play music with two davuls and two zurnas
Please tell of my demise to my beloved
Go back brothers, I will remain here.
Those who share this story say one other thing: At the bottom of the cliff where the two lovers are buried, a single flower blooms every spring on each of their graves as the sun rises. One of these flowers is red, the color of Zeynep’s veil, and the other is blue. Just as the flowers grow tall enough to reach each other and unite, a red deer appears from nowhere and eats them. This happens every year, with the flowers never uniting!
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Aysel K. Basci is a writer and literary translator. She was born and raised in Cyprus and moved to the United States in 1975. Aysel is retired and divides her time between Washington DC and Dallas. Her work has appeared in the Michigan Quarterly Review, Columbia Journal, Los Angeles Review, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Critical Read, Bosphorus Review of Books, Aster(ix) Journal, and elsewhere.