IN PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

1
In the tale of the Dark World
I am the youngest one
Through the well from which the wounded giant went down
I am going to the treasures of the underworld
If I return all the ornaments are yours
The more I burn the farther I go down,
The farther I go down the more I burn
On my waist the ropes of all ships
In the first of the dark worlds
Tied up like a bunch of carnations
I freed the three beautiful maidens
The black sheep is the most beautiful
The white sheep is the pupil of my eye
Liquid fire is the centre of the world
In the central part of this centre
There has to be a kernel
That, the nucleus of all seeds
That doesn’t melt or burn down
If only we could bring it up
We won’t need the sun
Then it will spread by its own volition
Fraternity, goodness and beauty
Will cover the world like grasses
Let the giant stay here
I don’t shoot an arrow at a wounded eagle
Let us return to our arduous journey

2
I overcame a salamander first
Exchanged my organs with his
In the midst of an unimaginable fire
I am walking, armored
In the dawn of the corals
First I found my lost eyes
My hands are among the real suns
My arms extend for miles
Golden mountains, diamond mountains
Not valuable at all to me
The red topaz, the sapphires
The emeralds, the jades
The sun-eyes, and the moonstones
I am throwing them all over the earth like a volcano
Amazed bright eyes look at me
Of the snakes like the trunk of a pine
In this world of no days and nights
On a crocodile’s back, on a fish’s neck
Like a cormorant diving and coming up
I am looking for the nucleus
Except the colors and the dimensions
It was exactly like our world
I did not see a worshipping creature
The words for war and peace did not exist
First I felt ashamed for killing the salamander
Then I thought about the back of the crocodile and of the fish
My apologies to the animals

3
To cut the long story short
Little we went further
Much we went deeper
We reached the seed of happiness
It looks just like a heart
Swims like a fish
It has the flame of all lovers
Like a flood is the flow of light from it
The crippled get limbs if rubbed,
The blind see when touched
Golden-eyed fish, emerald birds
Diamond-eyed snakes, ruby trees
All talked with joy
To turn our world into a paradise
All creatures hand in hand in harmony
Will deliver it to the world

Oğuz Tansel
Translated by Aysıt Tansel
World of Tales, Elips Kitap, 2012