Turkish Story, Bald Boy and the Magic Seal | Page 9

As soon as the seal was gone, the palace disappeared into thin air and the Princess and the
mother were left standing in the cold.
When the Emperor saw that the palace had disappeared, he reclaimed his daughter and
promised that she would not be with her new husband if he could not look after her. When
Bald Boy returned home that day he was very sad to find his mother alone, his palace
vanished, and his beautiful wife returned to her father. He did not know how to find the magic
seal and was sure that his new life was over forever.
The cat stepped up to the boy and said to him: ‘I can find the seal but I cannot swim across
the lake.’ Then the dog stepped forward and said to the cat: ‘I can swim across the lake with
you on my back and together we will find the magic seal.’ And so the faithful cat and the
faithful dog set off on their journey to recapture the magic seal from the crafty bead seller.

When they reached the river, the cat climbed up onto the dog’s back and the dog swam
across to the opposite bank. Once they were across, the cat began sniffing at the air and
followed the scent of the bead seller through the forest with the dog close behind.