Hikâye-i Kırk Vezîr (İnceleme-Metin)

Abstract

Classical Turkish literature is a unique literature with a rich treasure that has maintained a strong presence in wide geographies for centuries. Classical Turkish literature, which is mostly emphasized with verse texts, has many prose works and prose stories waiting to be discovered. Prose stories can appeal to today's readers in terms of their subjects and fictions. In classical Turkish literature, prose stories were written, translated or adapted. The most well-known of these are Bahtiyâr-nâme, Thousand and One Nights Stories, Thousand and One Days Stories, Camasb-nâme, Hümâyûn-nâme, Kelile and Dimne, Forty Vizier Stories, Sindbâd-nâme, Süleymân-nâme and Tûtî-nâme. Although the Forty Vizier Stories is an Arabic story, it also contains elements of Indian and Persian literatures. The plot begins with the incident in which the second wife of a shah falls in love with the prince and slanders him. Thereupon, forty viziers tell forty stories to the shah for forty days to get him to forgive his son. In return, the shah's wife tells stories against the shah. The first translation of the Forty Vizier Stories in classical Turkish literature was made by Ahmad-i Misrî in the 15th century and presented to Murad II. According to our current findings, there are 28 translations of the work, and one translation was prepared by Sûdî in H. 1338 / 1919-1920 and published in Arabic letters in Dersaadet Press with the name “Hikâye-i Kırk Vezîr”. This translation, which Süleymân Sûdî prepared without specifying from which written or oral source he was inspired, is today registered in the Library of the Turkish Language Institution under the archive number DilN/155. In this study, the printed work “Hikâye-i Kırk Vezîr” consisting of 30 main titles and 126 pages is analyzed. The study consists of Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Conclusion and Bibliography. In the introduction, the concept of story, the source and development of Kırk Vezîr Hikâyeleri, the identified copies, the studies made on the copies and finally Sûdî are mentioned. In Chapter 1, Kırk Vezîr Hikâyeleri is analyzed in terms of content and formal features. In addition, a comparison of the analyzed copy with other copies is given. In Chapter 2, the text is transcribed into Latin alphabet with transcription. The study is completed with the Conclusion and Bibliography sections.