Animals in Bulgarian mythology, folklore and literature

The town musicians of Europe

The town musicians of Europe

 a modern Fairy Tale, written by students of the project „APE-Animal Protection in Europe“ 

(LLP Comenius project 2010-12)

         Introduction

    What if …? What if the four animals of the well known fairy tale “The town musicians of Bremen” didn’t remain in their region in the North of Germany, but continued their way to many countries in the whole of Europe?

    So we sent them from the German sea shores in the West of Europe to Portugal and Spain in the South, through Italy, northwards again, to Poland, then Bulgaria, Greece and finally to Turkey in the Eastern part of Europe. We let them meet native animals of these countries, learn about their conditions of living and reflect about values like the spirit of love, responsibility, mutual support.

    This book is the result of an international cooperation. It was written and illustrated by students – the youngest ones 13 years old, 19 years the oldest - from the schools:

-          Gymnasium am Mühlenweg  -Wilhelmshaven, Germany

-          Agrupamento de Escolas do Forte da Casa - Forte da Casa, Portugal

-          IES María Cegarra Salcedo - La Unión, Spain

-          ITIS Pininfarina - Moncalieri, Torino,  Italy

-          XI Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. W.J. Zembrzuskich - Poznań, Poland

-          Profesionalna Gimnazia po Veterinarna Medicina "Ivan Petrovich Pavlov" - Stara Zagora,  

                 Bulgaria

-          1. Gymnasio Volou -Volos, Greece

-          Profesionalna Gimnazia po Veterinarna Medicina "Prof. Dr. Georgi Pavlov" - Dobrich,  

                 Bulgaria

-          Hüseyin Rahmi Gürpınar Çok Programlı Lisesi - Istanbul, Turkey.

   It was produced during a project whose title is “APE – animal protection in Europe” and which is part of the Education and Culture DG Lifelong Learning Programme Comenius.

   During their two-year cooperation the partners focused on wild animals and wildlife habitat, considering animal protection as connected to environmental protection, as well as on domesticated animals. Here they surveyed both animals for production - especially animals kept in factory farming and the ethical and environmental consequences - and pets, stray animals included, as they assumed, that you become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" (Saint-Exupéry, “The Little Prince”).

    Some of the results of our work found their way into this piece of creative writing.

    The first draft of our common story was made during a workshop in May 2011 in Wilhelmshaven / Germany. The students chose the native animals of their countries and laid down the details of their encounters with the musicians from the North. During the following months they wrote their texts and exchanged them through our project platform. In March 2012 the results were discussed during a project meeting in Volos / Greece and the references among single chapters were refined so that all chapters form a coherent story.

   And now, in April 2012, we are holding this product of our cooperation in our hands and are happy to present it at the final project meeting at our Turkish partner school in Büyükada, Istanbul.

                        Enjoy, dear reader, our book – as we have enjoyed our cooperation! 

                                                                                

                                                                                     Anke Wischer, project coordinator

 Contents

I.                   The European tour starts in Wilhelmshaven                                           page 

II.                The Musicians Visit the Lynx in Portugal                                              page

III.             The Musicians Meet Rodrigo, the Iberian Wolf                                     page

IV.             MAMMA - Mother Marion The Alpine Marmot                                   page

V.                The Musicians Meet the Polish Bison                                                    page

VI.             “I am Bobby”                                                                                         page

VII.          In the Land of the Centaurs                                                                   page

VIII.       The Little Hare’s Story-Book of Dobrudja region                                 page

IX.             The Seagull welcomes the Musicians at Istanbul                                   page

I.     The European tour starts in Wilhelmshaven

    There was a donkey, a real jackass, which had been living at a farm for a long time. But now he had become older and slower and his owner wanted to butcher him.

    The donkey was shocked, when he heard his owner say to his wife, “Tomorrow the butcher is going to come to kill our jackass, because he is too old to do his work.”

    “But wouldn’t that be ungrateful?” the wife asked.

    “Why?” answered the owner, shrugging his shoulders. “He’s had a good life. Other stock spend their whole life in cages, never seeing sun light. So he should be grateful to us. Animals are born to be used by humans. When they become useless or boring – get rid of them!”

    “How nice human beings are,” Jack, the donkey, said to himself. “How they look down their nose on us. However, something better than death I can find everywhere. I have such a loud voice. I could, yes, I could be a singer. Maybe I will go to Wilhelmshaven. When my owner’s cousin visited us, he told us, that a new harbour is being built there. This Jade-Weser-Port will attract big ships from all over the world. There is a good chance to go out into the wide world on one of them and to start a musical career.”

    So the jackass set out for Wilhelmshaven. While he came to a little river, he heard a very strange noise.  He looked around and discovered a dog lying on a bench near the river.

    “Are you alright, dog?” Jack asked.

    “No”, said the dog full of self-pity, “I am not alright. My owners left me here three days ago and they do not come back. And I do not know what to do now. I am hungry. The bench is not comfortable. It is cold and wet. And I feel lonely. Once they said that I was such a sweet puppy. Oh, what lovely Christmas day when I was given as a present to their little daughter. However, I was far too young to be parted from my mother; I was a last minute gift, bought from a man who sold puppies from the boot of his car. But the little daughter of my owners so much wanted to have a pet. Oh, I missed my mother and my siblings so much!”

    “And how your mother must have missed you”, said Jack.

    “Oh, no, no”, said the dog. “She had no time to miss us. She was already pregnant again. She was one of those dogs who spend their whole life in the dark, producing sweet little puppies who earn their “breeder” a lot of money without ever hearing a good word, without ever leaving their miserable cages until they are worn out and useless. Then: get rid of them!”

    “Yes, I know that”, Jack sighed. “But that little girl – she became your friend, didn’t she?”

    “Oh, yes,” the dog said happily. “We spent hours and hours playing around. Or I listened to her when she memorized her history lessons. My favourite one was a story about the strategist Hannibal who was accompanied by elephants – really big animals, strong and nearly invulnerable!” The dog closed his eyes: “How I love my little girl!” After a little while he added, “And she used to love me. But the love of a dog is unwavering, while the love of humans…” He began to cry.

    Jack was uncertain what he should do. Then he said: “Do you want to come with me to Wilhelmshaven and start a musical career? Something better than this life you can find everywhere.”

    The dog looked a bit more confident. “Oh yeah”, he said, “I want to come with you… but… I cannot sing, only howl,” he added sadly.

    “No problem, my friend,” Jack said in a comforting manner. “You can play the drums, using your tail. What is your name?”

    The dog wagged his tale hesitantly. “My name is Dobby. And yours?”

    “I’m Jack,” said Jack. “So let’s go.”

    So they did. On their way to Wilhelmshaven they met a cat, who was sitting in the sun, cleaning her coat, making goo-goo eyes at the two animals.

    Dobby felt insecure: “What is she doing there?”

    The cat stopped cleaning her coat and came over to the friends.

    “Hello, guys”, she said in a deep sexy voice. “What are your names? Do you want to stay the night with me?”

    “Oh, I am Jack,” the donky said eagerly. “And this is my friend Dobby. It is very nice that we can sleep over at your home.”

    The cat, however, came closer and tried to kiss Dobby.

    Dobby was scared. “Jack, help me!” he shouted full of panic.

    Finally Jack recognized what the cat was up to. “Oh, I think she wants to reproduce herself. Typically cat! Hundred thousands of stray cats on the streets in Germany, many of them in a miserable state - and they reproduce and reproduce.”

    The cat was angry, “You are such killjoys! I think I will find a real man for me.”

    “You can come with us.” Dobby felt that he should be helpful – as Jack had been to him.” We are on our way to Wilhelmshaven; there will certainly be many men for you.”

    The cat was skeptical, ”Why do you go to Wilhelmshaven?”

    “We want to start a musical career,” Jack said proudly.

    “Oh, two little stars!” They couldn’t tell whether the cat was mocking them or really impressed. “I think I want to join your group. When I am a star, many men will wait for me.”

    “Okay,” Jack said. “Can you sing?”

    “Of course,” the cat said self-confidently. “By the way, I am Kitty.”

    The three went on together. Suddenly there was a big bang and smoke.

    “Ahhhhh!” Dobby panicked. “They want to kill us!” He jumped behind Jack.

    “Mhm”, Kitty purred. “It smells like fresh chicken.”

    A cock came walking in a slow, cool way through the smoke.

    Kitty was growling now.

    The cock was not impressed. “Hi, I am Chris,” he said, walking straight towards the growling cat. “And you are, my Lady, …?”

    That was precisely the kind of gallantry which Kitty adored. ”My name is Kitty,” she smiled.

    “And we are Jack and Dobby,” Jack added.

    “Who is Dobby?”, Chris asked.

    Jack looked around. “Where is Dobby? Kitty, have you you seen him?”

    “Yes, he is hiding just behind you.”

    Chris laughed, “What a softy!”

    “Don’t talk about me like this!” Dobby barked quietly.

    Chris ignored Dobby and said to Jack, who was the biggest of the four animals, “Can you take me away from this place? I think they are after me and want to kill me.”

    “Who?” Jack asked.

    “I am a cock,” Chris said, “which is to be fattened.”

    “Not such a magnificent rooster like you!” Kitty was disgusted.

    “I have been lucky until now,” Chris said. “Have you ever seen baby chicken in intensive livestock farming? They are fattened so much that sometimes their bones break under their weight; they can barely move, sometimes not even breathe properly. And they don’t become older than five weeks; then they are killed – still being babies. I have been lucky, because until now it has been my job to, well, to be the father of so many eggs as possible.”

    “He will come with us,” Kitty said firmly. “We go to Wilhelmshaven and start a musical career there.”

    “That’s great,” Chris was his old self again. “I can play the electric guitar.”

    They arrived in Wilhelmshaven and started a concert at the market square. However, being a band of musicians wasn’t as easy as they had imagined. The people didn’t like their music at all. They realized that they needed a lot of practice before they could perform in public.

    “I thought it would be much easier to be a musician,” Chris was disappointed.

    “Yes, a quick and easy career,” Kitty consented.

   “You two sound like humans – everything has to be quick and easy,” Jack said in a pensive mood. “They want to have pets, they want to have meat, and everything has to be there immediately: puppies, young chicken, success. But they don’t want to work hard for that, they don’t want to take responsibility for their deeds and the creatures they are living with.”

… “<You become responsible>,” Dobby quoted dreamingly, “<forever, for what you have tamed.> That was in a story my owner read to his daughter. And then… Men are not like animals. They lack devotion and responsibility.”

    “But not us!” Chris and Kitty called. “So, stop giving lessons on ethics and let’s do something. Let’s take responsibility for each other and for our aim – to become musicians!”

    They went to the beach, sat down and discussed what to do. Then a big white thing fell from the sky, directly onto Kitty. - “Help,” Dobby shouted. “What’s that?!”

    Chris leapt forward. “I will save your life, Kitty!” And he began to attack the white thing.

    “Would you mind leaving me alone?”,the white thing asked. “I am only a stork and my name is Socks. And who are you?”

    “Sorry…,” Chris said. “Well, I am Chris and the others are Dobby, Jack and Kitty.”

   “Nice to meet you,” Socks said. “And where am I?”

    “You are in Wilhelmshaven,” Jack answered. “How come you don’t know?”

   “This is only a random stop on my journey,” Socks explained. “I come from Brandenburg and want to fly to Africa. In autumn we storks would search for warmer regions. And you, what are you doing here?”

    They told him their whole story, also about the failure of their first improvised concert.

    Socks made a suggestion: “Why don’t you follow me? I will make a stop in Portugal, near Forte da Casa. The people there like music very much and the landscape is beautiful. Plus: You will have a lot of time to rehearse on your way south.”

    “Yes, that’s a good idea!” the four musicians said. “Let’s make a European tour!”

II.  The Musicians Visit the Lynx in Portugal

    When the four musicians after a long way - and many rehearsals – arrived in Portugal, they decided to visit the Lynxes’ family. Kitty the cat had found out that they were their best friends in that country, and so they wished to visit the magnificent sites that Portugal offers together with them.

    When they arrived in Portugal they made a stop in Forte da Casa and then went directly to Lisbon, which isn’t far from Forte da Casa. They had been told that the capital has many beautiful places to visit. But something strange seemed to occur there: All the houses were destroyed, every place was empty; there was nobody in the streets. However, a familiar sound came from one hole in the ground. That noise came from the little Lynx, the only survivor of his family.

    “What happened here?” – The animals asked him.

    The little Lynx was scared and with a sad expression in his eyes he began to explain to them everything that had happened in that place:

    “I was here with all my family and some men came here and caughed my brothers, my parents, my uncles, my grandparents and all my cousins and my girl friend. Now I think I am the only one of my species, because I could hide myself in this hole that I found when I was running in order to escape. “

    The four animals were stunned and tried to know more about this story and so they decided to sit and to listen to all the details and give some comfort to their friend. So, the Lynx start one more time describing the terrible and recent episode that he had experienced:

    “After having lunch, all of us were prepared for a little snap, just for feeling the sun. All my family was together, but suddenly five men appeared and started saying: <We have come to the right place, we found all the Lynxes, let´s capture and put them into captivity>.”

    After hearing this story the four animals tried to find where the location of the captivity was in order to help rescue the lynxes.

    When they found out, where this place was, they decided to organize a plan to set them free. They started thinking and they decided to use the same technique which they had used when they had to deal with some thieves in a house near Bremen. 

They decided to sing a song to entertain the men and attract them outside. This could allow the little lynx to enter the house and help his family to escape, as it was planned.

    So they sang:         

                                   “I’m never gonna be away from your heart

Because when I'm far away my world falls apart
In my head, in my mind you make a real mess
Girl, I confess my only fear is the loneliness
I'm just worried about your love and screw the rest
Because the rest is not excellent banging in my chest
I can not find more words to make you know
I'm never gonna leave you, I never go
I just can not express the love I feel for you
But this is the truth and my love is you
You are my angel, girl, you are my star
I'm afraid because I've never been so far
Because with you I want to go far away
And live my life with you day after day
On tears or smiles, when the life is not fair
In the sadness, in the happiness I'll always be there…
God, I beg you for listening my pray
Because it doesn’t matter what is the price  … I pay
Just only with my love let me stay forever.”

    The men were stunned by the melody and tried to figure out who was outside singing that romantic melody. When they came outside the little lynx entered the house and opened the big cage where his family was.

    In the cage was also the girl friend of the little Lynx. All the animals were excited, because they suddenly realized that freedom would come. The girl friend embraced the little Lynx and kissed him, because she knew that the music was dedicated to her.

    After this romantic moment all the lynxes and the musicians ran away from that ugly place and felt free again.

    The five friends - musicians and the little lynx - explained all the details to the community of Lynxes and the all of them considered that this was a brave act with the spirit of love and mutual support.

    The community of Lynxes was proud and asked the four musicians to spread this history all over the countries that they were going to visit. They accepted the condition, said goodbye to everyone and went to the next country.

    Does the adventure end up here?

III.                      The Musicians Meet Rodrigo, the Iberian Wolf

    After visiting Portugal, Jack, Kitty, Chris and Dobby decided to travel to Spain, due to the fact that they had heard that every year a big festival known as “April Fair” was celebrated there.

    The friends got on the train and got asleep, because a long journey was waiting for them. When they woke up they had arrived to Sevilla. They got off the train and wandered around, as they didn’t know anybody there.

    They were looking at the beautiful landscapes that Spain offered them, as well as the joy and vitality of the people dressed up with their colorful clothes. They were enjoying the hot golden sunbeams and the musicality of the atmosphere when, suddenly, they could see an enormous black ball with furious eyes and two terribly sharp horns. That ball was coming up to them so quickly that petrified them.

    Swiftly, a wolf appeared among the people, got hold of them with its enormous paws and took them out of the bull ring.

    Still trembling, the four animals that had just arrived to Spain didn’t know the danger that they had lived, because they had, unconsciously, got in a “bull street running”.

    - Don’t get afraid of me, please, I’m not a dangerous wolf: I have just saved your lives. My name is Rodrigo.

    -Hello, I’m Dobby- said the dog.

    He started to introduce his friends.  

    -This is Chris, this is Kitty, this is Jack. As you can see, we are foreigners, we have come to visit the “April Fair”.

    - I love flamenco dancing, the high heeled shoes, the flowers, and the patterned polka-dots dresses that women wear... everything is very beautiful- said Kitty.

    - Well, I’m bored and I want to leave- said Jack.

    - Please, explain to us what that enormous black ball was! asked Kitty.

    The wolf explained them that a “bull running” was a kind of race where the people run before the bulls that are going to fight at the bull ring. And that “ball” was one of the bulls. The biggest that day.

    The friends were terribly amazed, why do people do that? It is too dangerous.

     - They want to feel the danger, the adrenaline- explained Rodrigo.

    After that, Rodrigo showed them Sevilla. They visited outstanding ancient buildings like the Giralda or the cathedral. The city was spotless and vibrant. A lot of young people moved from one place to another by bicycles that the City Council provided them, only for a little amount of money. The pedestrian streets had little shops where they bought “souvenirs”. They had lunch in a restaurant where they ate delicious “tapas”.

    They were taking a walk when they arrived to the main door of an enormous bull ring. The four friends wanted to come in, Rodrigo didn’t want to, but the tourists insisted, so they paid their tickets and sat on the stands. People were waiting the show to start.

    The show started. The bullfighter was dressed in a strange way, but his costume was striking and they liked it very much.

    From their seats they could see how that bull, which had almost run them over a few hours ago, danced a beautiful dance with the bullfighter. But at the end he was killed.

    - It was great!- said Jack.

    - He deserved it! He has almost killed us- exclaimed Chris.

    - I don’t agree with you- replied Rodrigo. I have suffered in my own body the mistreatment of my owner. He used to oblige me to hunt rabbits, and he used to hit me if I didn’t get any. But, of course, I can imagine that you have no idea about how I feel.

    - Yes, indeed we know, I was going to be eaten!- said Chris.

    - My owner used to hit me too- said sadly Dobby, lowering his head.

    - If it’s true that you have lived similar situations, I can’t understand how it’s possible that you have enjoyed this performance. Here, we have a saying which says: “Don’t do unto others as you wouldn’t have them do unto you”.

    That way, Rodrigo the wolf taught our four friends a lesson. When they left Spain they felt grateful for the attentions that they had received, and for all those things they had learnt. They made Rodrigo promise that they were going to meet again in the future, because finally they hadn´t seen the festival, so they had to come back. After a long farewell, they left and went on with their travel. They followed the Mediterranean coast in their way to Italy and they stopped at a very nice city in the Region of Murcia. The city was called La Unión. It was a small but very nice city surrounded by mountains and with the remains of the old mining activity in the city. The wolf showed them an old mine and they walked along the mountains saying goodbye to the windmills which collected the energy from the wind.

IV.                      MAMMA - Mother Marion The Alpine Marmot

    After walking through Spain and France, the merry company reached the Italian border. Now a serious decision had to be made: where should they cross the border? Sea or Mountains?

    Charmed at the idea of a possible encounter with the famous Italian supercats, Kitty immediately proposed to head for the seaside, but... for the first time Dobby imposed his decision!

    He remembered that when he was a puppy, his young mistress, while studying her History lesson, had read an extract aloud: it was about Hannibal's legendary deeds and his famous traverse of the Alps with the elephants. Hannibal reached the mountain pass in Montgenèvre with twenty- thousand foot soldiers, six-thousand horsemen and twenty-one elephants, actually only the half of the army he had left Spain with.

    Thrilled at the idea of having retraced the great Carthaginian leader's path, Dobby proposed to make for the mountains, as the Montgenèvre mountain pass was on their way to Moncalieri and Torino, the first capital of Italy, a city rich in art and culture, absolutely not to miss in their wanderings towards Poland.

    A whining, moaning Kitty mewed and complained for a couple of minutes, but... nothing doing : the thought of the historical adventure had already caught the imagination of both Jack and Chris, too.

    So the four friends started clambering up the mountain paths: the more they climbed the cleaner was the air and brighter the sky, they breathed the scent of the alpine flowers and the sweet fragrance of the grass and... some other smells when they met pasturing herds, too!

    At about three-thousand metres altitude, the sight was breathtaking: the Alpine Range stretched in front of them in a never-ending trail made of  peaks and pinnacles, downwards grass-green slopes slightly stirred by a fresh scented breeze ...but suddenly a threatening shadow outlined on the meadow and immediately a piercing whistle followed the sighting of the eagle!

    Very scared, Dobby jumped on Jack's rump, Kitty's hair swelled and ruffled, Chris covered his head with his wings:

    -  "What are you doing there in the open? Quick, run away, under that larch!" -

    Unhesitatingly the five animals sheltered under the stately fir.

    - "But can't you recognize my whistle? I'm the sentry of the Alps, everybody understands my warning of danger!" -

    Standing in front of them, a sort of big squirrel with stumpy paws and powerful claws, a cute little face, two long prominent teeth and small ears half hidden into its thick fur. This small ball of  rough greyish hair ended with a span-long tail and weighed seven kilos more or less: how could such a tiny  animal have emitted such a powerful whistle? But, most of all, who and what was it?

    - "I'm Mother Marion The Alpine Marmot, but everybody calls me "Mamma". I'm the senior marmot in the group and I've seen lots of strange things in my life, but I'd never met four stupid blockheads like you are! The eagle is terribly dangerous also for valley dwellers like you: my dear young lady, a stroll in the eagle's talons and your wonderful hairstyle would turn  into a tangled ball of wool!

    Ok, you're still scared and I can see you are not familiar with the place here. Sit down and I'll tell you something about our life up here. We live in group and in this period we feed on herbs, grasses, grains and insects to store the fat we'll need to survive our long nine-month winter sleep inside our underground burrows: did you know that we can lower our heart rate to five beats per minute when we are under hibernation?

    Now we've been finally protected but in the past we've risked extinction because of the ruthless hunt for our fur and our fat that was used for medicine purpose. So stupid men are: they thought that our fat could ease their rheumatisms and rubbed it on their skin! How horrible! They don't know anything about our traditions, our history and importance!

    The ancient Fanes people tell that not far from here, following the Alpine Range to the Dolomites, in a cave under the mountain called Croda Rossa, an "Anguana", a wood and river nymph, lived among us, the marmots. One day, a woman, who had been to far lands,  returned to her homeland with a newly-born baby girl. Before dying, she left her baby daughter with the Anguana who adopted her. The girl, whose name was Moltina, grew with the marmots. She learnt our language and our habits to such an extent that she could turn into a marmot!

    One day the prince of the Landrines saw Moltina and fell in love with her. The couple decided to get married: Moltina, Queen of the marmots, claimed that not only the marmots but the mountain itself shared her joy. We marmots are the sacred animal, the symbol of the Fanes' royalty.

    What about another example of our importance? Walt Disney created a Boy Scouts group drawing his inspiration from us: Huey, Dewey, and Louie belong to the Junior Woodchucks, obviously to us, the marmots!

    Ok, I hope you've learnt something useful on our places and traditions. Now if you want to start your journey again, follow this path and you'll reach the valley: pay attention to predators and if you hear my whistle... run away immediately! You'll be safe from birds of prey, wolves and foxes, but unfortunately I won't be able to save you from the most dreadful and lethal predator: man! Man must learn how to respect the animals of the mountains - and not only! - life here isn't an easy thing, now it's summer and nature is vigorous and flourishing, but in winter? Snow, cold, little food and lots of dangers...

    Ok, on the march until the sky is bright, have a nice journey and may nature be with you!"

V.  The Musicians Meet the Polish Bison

    The four animals continued their journey towards the north. After a while they found themselves lost in a valley in the mountain range called Bieszczady in Poland. Although the valley was very beautiful, the musicians became anxious and started looking for help. A lot of time passed and nobody appeared. Suddenly they noticed an animal like shape just round the tree, it was a bison. Its name was Lechu. The huge powerful animal with two curvy horns and brownish fur was really scaring. They decided to approach the creature nevertheless, because they thought it was their last resort.

    -“Hello! Hello! Wait a moment.”- the musicians said.

    -“Good morning. How can I help you?” – the animal asked.

    -“We are animals from Germany who wander through Europe to become musicians. We lost our way and we don’t know how to get away from here. Could you help us? Could you show us the way out?” – the musicians answered.

    -“Yes, of course.” – the bison replied and added: “I will help you with pleasure because I’m also leaving this amazing place.”

    -“Why are you leaving?” – the four friends enquired.

    -“I’m setting off because I have to protect my species from extinction. The only possible way to succeed in it is finding the ingredients to prepare an elixir, which has magic powers. It is the last chance to save my species. There were a couple of attempts to find the ingredients by my elder brothers but all of them were unsuccessful. They returned home either empty-handed or they never came back. I’m the only bison who is able to make an effort to fight for our species. And I will do everything to make it happen.” – explained the happy bison.

    -“You are so brave. We are honoured to meet you. We are very moved by your story and we would like to help you find all necessary ingredients. Do you mind?”

    -“Friends… I’m very glad that I can count on your help. Of course, I don’t mind!”

    -“Let’s go, then!”

    When they relaxed, the musicians and the bison set off to Zakopane, the capital of the Tatra Mountains. On their way they met a shepherd and his sheep. One of the musicians called at the shepherd:

    -“Good morning. Can we help you? We can see you have some trouble.”

    -“Oh yes, I will be very grateful for your help, thank you!”

    The musicians, the bison and the shepherd were trying to herd the sheep. The shepherd wanted to thank the travellers and invited them for dinner.

    -“Are you hungry?”

    -“Yes, we are starving!”

    -“Let’s go to my house!”

    -“Gladly.”

    When they got home, the shepherd offered the tired travellers to make regional, delicious kind of cheese, known as “oscypek” together.  The guests didn’t hesitate and said yes as they knew that “oscypek” was the first ingredient on the list. The shepherd gave the musicians and the bison a small bag full of “oscypek” made of goat and sheep’s milk. After they headed for the railway station where they got into a train to get to the capital city of Poland – Warsaw. When they arrived in Warsaw, they went straight to the city centre where there was held an annual event “The Sea Animals’ Days” in a big castle. Especially on that occasion a mermaid from the warm oceanic seas has been invited by Poles. The musicians and the bison saw her sitting on a huge rock in a large aquarium, not on the Vistula River banks as usual. So excited with that pretty “lady” they came up to her and greeted her gratefully:

    - “Hello, mermaid!”

    - “Hello, where do you come from? What do you want to ask me for?”

    -“You know, I’m a bison and these are my comrades, we are coming to ask you to give us a hand. We’re desperately trying to save bisons’ species from extinction and to succeed in this attempt, we need to find a couple of special ingredients typical of the largest Polish cities. If we manage to get them all, we’re going to prepare an elixir which is to help my whole bisons’ family to survive for the next centuries. That’s why, my lovely mermaid, we’ve come to Warsaw to get a few scales from your beautiful tail.”

    - “Oh, I see. Obviously, I’ll help you and offer you as many scales as you need. And now, let me wish you all the best in your further journey.”

    They did what they said and set off to the Baltic Seashore. Now, their destination was a beautiful marine city area - Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot. After five hours of travelling, they encountered a friendly local old sailor calling the quits in his wonderful, large ship.

    - “Good morning, sailor!”

    - “Welcome to Gdansk, my lovely! What do you need?”

    - “We are seeking for ambers. Where can we find them? Could you help us, please?”

    - “Surely, it’s my pleasure. Please, follow me. I will show an area rich in natural resources - brown, yellow and green ambers.”

    So happy with the news the four friends and the bison followed the old sailor. He took them to a cruise where everyone had a great time, picking up ambers with a fishing net, laughing and joking. Suddenly, the bison got worried as he hadn’t seen the sailor for a long time. He decided to seek for him, so he moved to another part of the ship. Suddenly, he noticed the sailor trying to steal all the ambers found in the sea.

    - “You wicked man! Help, help, thief! You’re a liar, you’re a thief! You’re taking away all the ambers we’ve been collecting for hours.” – kept shouting the furious bison.

    - “Don’t cry the bison! Don’t cry, please!”

Hearing the noise on the deck, the musicians dashed out to them, still frightened what had happened.  The sailor, trembling with fear, began to say something by way of excuse.

    - “My dear friends, I didn’t mean to rob you, I was only curious, just to check… how many ambers you managed to get until now.” – assured the frightened sailor.

    - “Well, It doesn’t sound convincing…”-

    - “I beg you, please, believe me. I didn’t intend to scary you! I’m so sorry. My friends, forgive me. To make up for it, I want you to take with you all these polished ambers with you.”

    - “That’s a good idea. Thank you very much.”- the angry but relieved musicians and the bison answered. 

    The Bison packed all the ambers in the bag. Then the sailor took the travellers back to the land. The next city they were going to was Torun. When they got there, they went to the Nicolaus-Copernicus-house. At the entrance they were offered to bake their own gingerbread. They agreed. They baked a few small gingerbread cakes and not wasting any more time, they caught the train to Poznan.

    The characters reached the capital city of Wielkopolska Region in the early morning. They were exhausted, but they still had a lot of energy. They went to the Old Market Square Centre, where hundreds of local residents were gorging on St Martin’s croissants to celebrate the name day of Poznan’s patron. The musicians wanted to find out what the last ingredient of the elixir was.

    - “Bison, bison!”

    - “Yes?”

    - “Please, tell us the last ingredient.”

    - “All right, it’s the right time. So the last element we need to get are the Billy Goats’ horns.”

    - “How do you want to get them? They’re hidden on the top of the Town Hall.”

    - “Therefore at twelve o’clock we need to go up there because this is the time when the Billy Goats are butting.”

    - “OK, let’s wait till 12 o’clock.”

    Time went by and they kept waiting and waiting for midday staying in the middle of the square. Dozens of youth were joining them. Soon it turned out that those young people attended General High School in Poznan. When they listened to their adventurous story, they immediately offered a help to prepare the elixir.

    Everyone’s waiting for the goats, but somehow they didn’t turn on. Everybody seemed to be very disappointed and didn’t know what to do. Suddenly, one of the musicians got into a fantastic idea to play the anthem of Poland – “Mazurek Dąbrowskiego”. The moment they began playing the sounds of it, the goats appeared on the top hall and started to strike their horns so heavy that one of the horns came off and fell down on the ground. When seeing it, the Bison picked it up and immediately ran inside the school. In a science lab they all got down to hard work. After two hours, the elixir prepared from all the necessary ingredients was finally finished and ready to protect the bisons’ species from extinction. The delighted Bison said to everybody: 

    - “I wish I had met you earlier” and added: “Let me thank you for your help, friendship and devotion, my dear mates”. Without hesitation, he handed the musicians the remaining gifts collected on their tour in Poland.

    The classroom filled up with applause but also sorrow as the four animals from Germany were to set off their further journey across Europe.

   And the bisons?  Now, they could live long and happily.

VI.                      “I am Bobby”

    The sun had risen high in the sky and its hot rays were penetrating the air. Jack - the donkey, Dobby the dog and Kitty the cat were walking along the way and Chris the rooster was sitting on the Jack’s back and looked curiously at the distance.

    - Oh, I am so tired - said Jack the donkey. - Dobby, what can you see there, I think that we reached a kind of border.

    - Yes, friends, it is a frontier. - purred Kitty.

    - Ah, look! This is Bulgaria. I have heard that there are very high and beautiful mountains, vast plains, rivers and even a Black Sea to the East. Friends, do you want to go to a cool mountain and have a rest from the long and tiring trip?

    - Yes, where three of the most beautiful Bulgarian mountains - Pirin, Rila and the Rhodope – unite: There we can have a rest for a while and we will carry on - yipped Dobby.

     - Come on, let's go faster - crowed Chris.

    So they were walking and all of a sudden they saw the sign: "Dancing Bears Park - Belitsa." The four friends decided to see what this park was and who lived there. When they approached, one bear came closer to the animals and said: - Hello friends, how are you? Where are you from? And where are you going? You look very tired.

    - It is true, we are tired. I barely stand on my feet - whispered tired Jack. - Can we have a rest here? We ran away from our bad farmers and walked around a lot to see how our friends were. - And what is your name?

    - You can stay here and relax because this is the heaven for us and there is a lot of space for friends like you. I am Bobby and I will tell you how we came into this paradise. I am 11 years old. The signs of my previous way of life are invisible, but all the other bears’ noses are torn apart by chains. I was a young cub and my master used me to fight with people. Years ago there were bad people that caught us in the forest and used us for their own benefit. They pierced our noses with rings and hanged chains to them so that they could control us through our pain. They kept us hungry and we were hit to do whatever they wanted. They led us in the city centers, played the fiddle and by pulling chains made us dance for the amusement of passers-by.

    But that was banned 12 years ago. Then the good people of Park "Belitsa" have adopted us and up to now they are taking care of us. The place where I live is very beautiful. The road winds like a spiral between beech and oak trees, sometimes between steep pine and fir trees. Here and there you can see houses with smoked red tiles, small buildings with sunken roofs entirely coated in plants and lichens. Since I moved here I met many friends who have had the same bad fate as I did. Let me introduce you to some of them:

    Mariana is 21 years old. 6 years ago she joined the park with severe behavioral abnormalities – she walks around only in two square meters. Her habit was acquired by her former life as she was forced through pain and hunger to perform artistic tricks.

    Another friend of mine is Dobry. Though he is blind, Dobry loves walking around the sector, where he is placed. He spends his time in search of food or lying under the trees. He loves sleeping very much.

    Mitko was severely mistreated by his owner – when he arrived at the park he had a nose ring and a lower jaw ring. His jaw wound had to be operated by a vet-surgeon. When the weather is bad Mitko retracts into his den. He is a very curious and energetic bear.

I have 25 friends from Bulgaria and 3 from Serbia in the park. We are all happy and free now. We are going to live our lovely lives here!

    - Oh, my friend. Your life was not easy. You are happy because good people have found you and have looked after you –murmured Kitty sadly and purred tenderly under the heavy thick shadows of the forest. - we shall continue our trip to see more friends of ours. But we shall stay for a while in your little paradise and as we gather enough energy,…

    -Ok, you can stay as long as you want. I am happy that I shared my story with you.

    The sun set. All slept calm, feeling the warm protection of good people.
    Early in the morning Chris sang and Jack, Kitty and Dobby knew it was time to go on. But they promised Bobby that they would return and would always remember him and his friends.

VII.                  In the Land of the Centaurs

    The four animals crossed the Bulgarian border and reached Greece. They visited many beautiful places, like Thessaloniki, and interesting archaeological sites, like Vergina, where they were awed by the tomb of Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great. But when they saw from the top of a hill the glimmering blue sea touching the green slopes of a snow-capped mountain and in the middle a modern city with wide straight streets, they decided that this was going to be the next stop on their long journey through Europe. A road sign informed them that this was Volos, the city of the Argonauts and the mountain was Pelion, the mountain of the Centaurs.

    The first thing they did as they entered the city was take a stroll along the waterfront gazing at the swaying fishing boats and sniffing at the appetizing smells that came from the numerous fish and seafood taverns.

-          Mmm, that grilled octopus and those fried shrimps smell delicious, said Kitty the cat. Shall we have a bite before we continue exploring the city?

    They all agreed and couldn’t help but taste almost everything on the menu. Later, as they continued their walk they saw dozens of sailing boats docked along the harbour and Dobby the dog and Chris the cock wished they would sail a boat one day. Then they noticed a very strange wooden vessel with a mast and oars, which looked just like an ancient ship. They were standing in front of it staring in bewilderment when a seagull approached them and said:

-          Hello, my friends! I see you are confused. Let me explain. What you are looking at is

an exact replica of the famous Argo ship in which, according to Greek mythology, Jason and his men, the Argonauts, sailed from here to Colchis in the Black Sea in order to retrieve the Golden Fleece. In fact, the Argo is the emblem of the city of Volos.

   The animals were very impressed but Jack the jackass said:

-         To tell you the truth, guys, all this talk about the sea and sailing is boring me. I prefer the mountain.

-         You are lucky, said the seagull. Volos is one of the few privileged places that combine sea and mountain. Mount Pelion is very close and in fact, it is known as the mountain of the Centaurs, who looked a bit like you!

-          Like me?.... What do you mean? - asked Jack.

-         They were half-human and half-horse and the most important one of them was the wise Centaur Chiron who had many illustrious pupils, such as Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing, Achilles, the famous hero of the Trojan War, Hercules, the demi-god who performed the legendary twelve labours, and Jason, the leader of the Argonauts. Centaur Chiron lived in a cave that still exists near the village Milies. Would you like to visit it?

   The four animals nodded enthusiastically and the seagull showed them the way and wished them good luck in their wanderings. They were walking for hours through the picturesque villages and the thick forest when they finally found the cave. By that time it was almost dark and they decided to spend the night there. They lit a fire and started recollecting all the experiences that they had had so far together. The first one to fall asleep was Chris the cock and he had the strangest dream. In his dream everything was different………

………..The four animals were walking through the woods when they reached a clearing where they saw nymphs dancing and centaurs flirting with them. The four friends decided to join the party when suddenly a fierce-looking man carrying a bow and arrow appeared followed by a pack of wild dogs. One of the centaurs warned the animals:

-         Quick, my friends, run as fast as you can. This is Actaeon, the famous hunter, and if he sees you he will certainly use you as targets!

-          Where can we go?   asked Dobby in panic.

-         I’ll take you to Chiron’s cave where you can hide. He will surely protect you from all harm, answered the centaur.

    So he did and the four animals met the great teacher Chiron, who reassured them that they were safe in his cave. The animals thanked him, introduced themselves and asked who Actaeon was.  

-         Actaeon is very aggressive, a maniac hunter. He used to be my pupil too. I taught him archery but now he uses this noble art to hunt animals. As I heard he has become so arrogant that he even boasts that he can compete with Artemis, the goddess of hunting. I am afraid that this kind of “hubris”, I mean pride, will be the end of him.

-         You are truly wise, Chiron, a voice was heard from the opening of the cave. A handsome young man walked into the cave and said: “Indeed, Artemis got so angry today with Actaeon who was once again showing off his abilities in hunting that she transformed him into a stag. The irony is that his own dogs started chasing him.” 

-          Ha! The hunter became the hunted, said Kitty.

-         This reminds me of what our Spanish friend Rodrigo told us, “Don’t do unto others as you wouldn’t have them do unto you”, said Jack.

-         Words of wisdom, answered Chiron. Or as I always say to my students, “Treat others how you wish to be treated”. Isn’t that so, Jason?

    The newcomer agreed smilingly and said he had heard that hundreds of times from his teacher’s lips.  

-          So we should be friendly and smiley if we want others to act likewise, said Dobby.

-          We should help others first if we want them to help us too, said Chris.

-         And we shouldn’t be too arrogant either. See what happened to Actaeon, Jack said humbly.

-         You would all make excellent pupils, said Chiron, but let’s find out why Jason, my old student, is here.

-         I have come to say goodbye because I am sailing in Argo, my ship, to Colchis in the Black Sea.  

    When the four animals heard this, they were very excited because this would be a nice way to continue their journey.

-         Can we come with you? We want to meet new places and new countries, said Chris.

-         Of course you can, we will have a great time together but we have to rush. I have many things to do.

-          Great, let’s go. I really can’t wait, said Dobby.

    They bid farewell to Chiron and thanked him for his hospitality and the lessons he had given them and soon they were back at the port. Jason with the Argonauts and the four animals started their voyage to Colchis. All was well until they arrived at the Symplegades at the Bosporus. These were two giant rocks that clashed randomly and destroyed any ship that passed between them. Jason had been advised that if a dove flew across unharmed, then the ship following it would pass safely, too.

-         I’m afraid we have no dove to send across, said Jason. I was wandering if our feathered friend would be so brave as to undertake this task, he added looking at Chris.

-          Who, me? You must be joking!

-         Come on, we know you can do it, said all the other animals. Otherwise, we have come all this way for nothing. After all, we owe Jason a favour for taking us along.

 So they persuaded the cock who flew across and only a few of his tail feathers got caught.

-          My tail, my beautiful tail!!!!! cried the cock……….. and suddenly he woke up.

He realized it had all been a dream and he narrated it in every detail to his friends.

-         It must be the air in this cave, said Dobby, because I had similar dreams about mythical creatures and brave heroes myself.

    The others agreed and after looking around for the last time they said goodbye to the spirit of Chiron that had visited them in their dreams. They decided to head back to Volos, only this time they found the railway station of Milies and took the little train of Pelion, which the locals call Smudgy because it used to have a steam engine burning coal and the coal dust that came out of its chimney along with the steam smudged everything. The scenic route went through fields of olive trees and over several stone or metal bridges until the four friends arrived in Volos. There they bought some jars of “spoon” desserts that the area is famous for and decided to board a ship and follow the trail of the Argonauts towards the Black Sea, in reality this time.
 

VIII.     The Little Hare’s Story-Book of Dobrudja region

    It was a beautiful day around mid April. The little hare came out of his hole and looked at the beautiful blue sky, white clouds, and flower-filled trees.

    ‘The severe snowy winter ended and spring begins finally. It’s time to see what happens in the forest and the bushes around ’, he sighed happily.

So, the grey little hare started to hop along through the forest, flippity-flop, flippity-flop. Presently he saw - a story-book lying on the path. Little hare turned the pages. The pictures in the book were really magnificent! There were flat hills and golden valleys of wheat, corn, sunflowers and etc. And the letters in the book were so large and easy to read. On the cover was written ‘A story book of Dobrudja region’.

    ‘Oh, it is a book of my native region’, the little hare exclaimed. He picked up the book and went on.

    ‘If only I could find someone to read this story of my birthplace. I’m sure it could be very interesting for everyone I meet on my way’, he thought as he flippity-flopped through the forest.

    No sooner did this thought cross his mind he heard a loud noise in the forest. And there in front of him, the little hare saw a merry company of various animals like a jackass, a dog, a cat and a rooster that were dancing while singing a beautiful song.

    ‘Hello, happy band. My name’s Dobrudjanche and I live in the fields here. Where do you come from?’, the hare asked.

    ‘Hello, Little Hare’, the jackass answered. ‘My name is Jack and these are my friends. We are a joyful company of animals coming from the North of Germany. We are having a tour around the European countries because we want to learn how other animals live, the questions of animal liberation and humane treatment to us, to meet some national animals and etc. We have already passed through Portugal where we met the lynx, Spain (the wolf), Italy (the marmot), Poland (the bison). We’ve come from Greece (near Volos we met the the centaur) today, but we were in your country, Bulgaria, some months ago where we became friends with the bear. All of them also told us marvelous stories of their countries’ national history and the values of their nations ’, Jack added.

    ‘Where are you going now?’, the little hare wanted to know.

    ‘Well, we plan to finish our tour on the Princes’ Islands, near Istanbul. We started in the Western part of Europe and it will end in the Eastern part of Europe. There we want to summarize what valuable lessons we learned from our journey abroad’, Jack said.

    ‘But what happened to you, Mr. Jack, why you decided to organize this long tour around Europe?’ Dobrudjanche was curious to understand.

    ‘Hm… I started this journey from Germany because I decided to escape from farmer who intended to have me slaughtered. I wished to start a musical career. But it is more important that I met all these merry guys and gals around us. - Hey, little friend, what’s that book you’re carrying?’, Jack said.

    ‘Yea, it’s a story book of my region, happy friends. And the pictures are simply magnificent! Would you me like to read you and your company some of them?’, Dobrudjanche suggested.

    ‘All right, little hare’, all agreed.

    The sweet hare sat down on a tree stump, opened the book and began to read, his paw traveling along the lines of words. He was eager to catch the attention of his audience, from the very beginning.

    ‘In Dobrudja, everything seems endless - the blue skies, the boundless chernozem – that means: the black soil of this area -  and the songs of Dobrudja. This land is sometimes called the cradle of Bulgaria because it was here in 7^th century when Khan Asparuh and his mounted troops came and founded the Bulgarian State. The legend holds that after they had swam across the river Danube the horsemen stopped to rest on a hill. What they saw around them was a Greenland, a boundless plain, a brilliance of the Black Sea to the east, a rainbow above all that, and passing under the rainbow those aged horsemen entered a timeless existence together with Bulgaria and Dobrudja. It is a place where one could feel the magic of infinite. The sun says ‘Good morning’ to all animals in this forest first. This rich land is known to be the main grain producing area in Bulgaria. The whiteness bread of the world can be tasted here, because of it for us wheat is the sacred crop- it is hope and faith, it’s a prayer and the symbol of life. Only those who have seen the vast golden fields of wheat will understand why this land is called ‘Golden Dobrudja …’, the little hare read and read. His new friends listened to him in silence for hours.

    ‘What an incredible region, you live in, little grey hare. This story-book of Dobrudja was so knowledgeable we learnt so much. It’s one of the best stories we’ve ever had’, all animals exclaimed in one voice when Dobrudjanche finished reading the book.

     ‘You are welcome, dear friends’, the hare responded their heartily congratulations to him.

    ‘Dobrudjanche, my group liked so much the story of your native place. Bulgarians are such a great nation with wonderful and hospitable people and animals, the jackass concluded.  But, it’s time the merry party to continue our way to Istanbul. ‘Do you know how far Istanbul is from your forest?’, he added.

    The great city is not so far away. From here you will just have to straight following the sign ‘The Bosporus ’, tiny grey hare exclaimed. 

    ‘Goodbye and take care, little hare’, all animals shouted happily.

IX.           The Seagull welcomes the Musicians at Istanbul

    It was the first hours of the morning. The sun was shining and the cool water of Bosporus was sparkling glamorously. Ezan voice – that is: the call to prayers - and screams of Seagulls were melting in the morning. The gulls  started chasing the public ferries sailing from Asian side to European side and the students, workers or young lovers were waiting for disembarking and on the way, ferries saluted each other with their horn while the Bosporus Ferry started its journey to the legendary shores of the Bosporus which are adorned with old wooden houses or with palaces.

    The train from Dobrich to Istanbul had just arrived at the terminal of Sirkeci and it was cooling its rails. There inside the train were our four friends who had had a long journey starting from Germany. Being so exhausted they were fast asleep and didn’t notice that they had arrived in Istanbul. Suddenly, the snow-white Seagull who was perching on the wires of the train across them starred at them and soared gently to their wagon. -“Rat! tat! tat! tat!” the seagull pecked on  their window continuously without missing a beat to wake them up. -“What is that noise! Stop it! Leave me alone. I am so sleepy,” said Jack without knowing that they were already in Istanbul. Dobby woke up at that moment and came face to face with the Seagull who was looking at them out of the window. -“Hey what is that? My god!” The seagull opened his wings and greeted them saying:  -“Hello! Welcome to Istanbul.” The mysterious seagull flew away and disappeared in the blue skies of Istanbul. With the astonishment they had, they wondered where the seagull had gone.  -“How genial and kind he was. He was acting as if he had been our friends for years. We should find and thank him. If we hadn’t been woken up by him we would spend the whole day sleeping here. Come on, guys, let’s go!” said Chris with an hectic voice. The four fellows set off to explore Istanbul and suddenly found themselves in front of a spellbinding view of Bosporus.  -“Wow, what a glamorous city!” exclaimed Jack. The four fellows decided to take a ferry to explore the city.    -“Let’s have a seat on the roof and taste the soul of Istanbul,” said Kitty.

    “Look! People are throwing a circle bread with sesame towards the seagulls. There are hundreds of them. They are eating from the hands of people,” said Jack. -“ It is incredible. They are hovering to catch them,“ shouted Dobby and went on: -“Look! How they chase the ferry! I want to do the same. Please! It is very enjoyable.” The mysterious Seagull suddenly came: -“Hello again! Are you enjoying Istanbul?”

    -“Hey! Where have you been? We were looking for you since morning. Thank you very much for waking us up in the morning. We are so glad.” said Chris. -“Where are you coming from and what are you doing here?” asked the Seagull curiously. -“We have been traveling for a long time to explore the European cities and here is our last stop. We  are collecting information about the cultures and the way people treat to animals.”  answered Jack. -“How nice! Let me be your guide.” offered the Seagull and went on:

    -“The circle bread you were talking about is called “Simit” in Turkish. It is one of the indispensable tastes of Turkish breakfast and five teas.  It is not possible to consider it without cheese and tea.  And we love Turkish people as they don’t deprive us of this good taste.”  

    While tasting Simit with some white cheese and tea the four fellows asked the Seagull:

    -“Can you tell us about Istanbul?” -“Of course! With pleasure!  Istanbul is the only city in the world located on two continents, Asia and Europe.  It isn’t the geographical fact that draws the significance. It is a city where old and new, historical and modern, cultural and revolutional coexist. It is a city fought over for thousands of years and it has been the capital of many civilizations. It was the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and named Constantinopolis and finally, when the Ottomans captured Byzantium in the year 1453 under the Conqueror Sultan Mehmet, Istanbul was converted into the capital of the Ottoman Empire. It is the home of cultural heritage, among the richest in the world.”

    -"It makes the city very special! No doubt.” said Kitty.

    -“Many historical works of art showing traces of these empires, have been able to survive up to date.” added the Seagull and continued:  -“The most important historical remain belonging to Byzantium is Hagia Sophia museum which was was used as a temple and contains very valuable mosaics.”

    -“Hey, look at the tower!” exlaimed Chris! 

    -“It is Galata Tower!” said the Seagull.

    -“Is that the one Hazerfen Ahmet Çelebi who was a scientist jumped down the tower and flew to the opposite side of the Bosporus strait by using the wings which he had invented in the 17th century.” asked the Kitty. The seagull nodded:  -“Yes, definately it is. And also it is visible everywhere in the city and one of the oldest towers in the world.  The tower is at the hill which overlooks both to the Bosporus and the Golden Horn and the sea of Marmara.” They got off the ferry and went on their journey and they were exteremely impressed by magnificent Topkapı Palace, the domicile of the Sultan and center of government administration, The Dolmabahce Palace  where the Ottoman Sultans started to live in, Blue Mosque and by  the  great  works of architect Sinan such as the Suleymaniye Mosque. -“Let’s go to Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar for shopping.” said Jack.

    -“That is a great idea, dude” replied Chris. After having a day full of culture together with the fresh smell of the sea, they were so hungry and wanted to taste all the varieties of the Turkish cuisine. They all tasted grilled meat (kebap), seafood, stuffed and wrapped vegetables (dolma), savory pastries (borek), pilav and dishes with olive oil and butter as well as wide variety of desserts like Turkish delight, baklava, kadayıf, helva and several puddings (muhallebi).

    The next day they woke up and headed for the Princes’ lslands. The seagull was waiting on Büyükada (Prinkipo island)with his best friends on the island.

    -“Hello, welcome to our islands”, said the horse. “I am here to take you around to have a sightseing  tour.”

    -“Hello ! It’s our pleasure to meet hospitable animals like you. We are so excited to be here.” said Jack. The seagull: -“Hey cats, dogs, donkeys come on… Help the four fellows to get on the phaeton.” The horse carriage started to move.  -“Do you feel the smell?” asked the horse to the four fellows. -“Oh yea! It smells fantastic! What is that? I have never sensed such a beautiful odour. Look at those trees full of yellow flowers! They are mimosa and they are so popular on our islands.”  The cat and the dog who were following them went to pick some mimosas for the four fellows. -“This is for you. “

    -“Oh, thank you. They look really wonderful.”

    Kitty asked the horse: -“Do you always carry people here? Is it your job?”

    -“Yes, I am not that lucky as you. I carry hundreds of people and weights everyday. I wish I was independent like you. In summer it is very hard for us to carry thousands of people without resting and drinking water. “ The four fellows  felt sorry for he pity horse and got off the horse immediately and decided to walk around the island. -“Let’s walk together and enjoy our day, lovely horse.” said Kitty and they spent an unforgettable  day.

    The next day they woke up with the rise of the sun in the sea side and they were so excited as they were going to welcome the Comenius group coming from Germany, Portugal, Poland, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria and Greece. The four musicians from the North got ready to give a small concert on the Port for the guests. As they already knew the city well, they became the guides for the Comenius Group and they turned back to their country with lots of good memories.

    On their way back home they were taking about how right Napoleon was with his quotation “If the earth were a single state Istanbul would be the capital…”

And here, dear reader, we leave our four friends and all the companions they met during their journey through Europe.

May they all live happily ever after!

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.