All tales / Tale 11
Kazan's Captivity
Salur Kazan's Captivity and His Rescue by Uruz
Salur Kazan is taken prisoner and spends years at the bottom of a well. It falls to his son Uruz to set out and free him.
The story
While hunting, Salur Kazan crosses the border without noticing and falls asleep under a tree. The men of the Tekfur of Trebizond tie him up in his sleep. The Tekfur has Kazan thrown into a deep well, but even at the bottom of the well, Kazan holds his head high.
Years pass. Among the Oghuz, Uruz grows up and learns from a merchant that his father is alive in a well in Trebizond. The warriors who once fought beside Kazan now gather behind Uruz.
At a feast, the Tekfur orders Kazan to sing a song mocking the Oghuz. Instead, Kazan praises the mountains of the Oghuz, their warriors who keep their word and the prayers of their mothers. At that very moment, Uruz's army arrives before the castle.
The cunning Tekfur tells Kazan that if he wants his freedom, he must fight his son. Kazan rides out, turns aside every blow Uruz strikes but never strikes back, and at last reveals who he is. Together, father and son take the castle, and Kazan returns home.
What this tale is about
Characters
Salur Kazan
Leader of the Oghuz lords. Even at the bottom of a well, he never betrays his homeland.
Uruz
Kazan's son. The son his father once rescued now rescues his father.
Lady Burla
Kazan's wife, who waits for her husband for years.
The Tekfur of Trebizond
The cunning lord who imprisons Kazan and tries to make him fight his own son.
Dede Korkut
The bard who tells the tale.
Listen to this tale
Salur Kazan's Captivity and His Rescue by Uruz
Salur Kazan is taken prisoner and spends years at the bottom of a well, yet he refuses to mock the Oghuz. Uruz, the son his father once rescued, now comes to rescue his father.
To talk about as a family
A good deed goes round and finds its way home; whoever holds their head high in hard times will one day see the light.
