UNCLE KAMIL

Old Majnun noticed his grandchildren, who were surprised to hear what his guests were saying, but he did not bother to answer them.

When his past was mentioned, a trace of cruelty crossed his eyes. But no one noticed.

He remained calm with a sweet smile on his face, in his usual charming state.

"Nearly half a century has passed. Time waits for no one. "

Majnun took a deep breath and looked around the room.

"The reason I brought you here has to do with my past. Before I come to the point, I would like to tell you a story, if you will allow me. "

Beril spoke for everyone.

"Of course. It is an honor for us to listen and learn from an elder. "

The others nodded in agreement.

Majnun waited a while before beginning his story, and when the tension grew, he began.

"It was many years ago. I was 10-12 years old. We had a family friend who was our neighbor. They had a son about my age. Karun, the treasurer. I'm sure you all know him. Yes, he was my partner in the past, the current owner of Karun Holding.

Those who did not know that he had once been a childhood friend and partner of the richest man in the world were very surprised. They also began to wonder why the old man had quit when he could have become one of the richest men in the world.

The biggest shock was to his grandchildren. For 40 years, they had never imagined that their grandfather had such a remarkable past. They began to realize how absurd all their assumptions had been.

Majnun took another sip of his tea while he waited for them to digest what he had said. When his tea was finished, he placed the glass on the saucer with a slight noise.

When the maid outside the door heard the noise, she came in and collected the empty tea cups.

When the maid left the room, closing the door behind her, Majnun picked up where he had left off.

"Our families were very close, just like you. I and Karun were like Metehan and Teoman.

We grew up together, and even if we fought and argued sometimes, we would make up and move on.

Anyway, we were very good friends, as you can see. "

When Majnun said we were good friends, there was a hint of sarcasm in his eyes, but the others didn't notice because they were listening to an impressive back story.

"Back then, on summer evenings when the weather was nice, everyone would prepare snack cakes and cookies. Then we would gather in the garden of a neighbor's house. The host would brew tea, and we would eat and drink with the goodies brought by the guests. The elders would share what they had heard and experienced. The children would either listen or misbehave without caring. If they overdid it, they were disciplined with a mother's slipper. The neighborhood used to be much better than it is now. "

As if the past had come alive in Majnun's eyes, his gaze wandered far away.

"In the old days, if someone needed something, the neighborhood would notice and help without the person having to ask. Nowadays they are afraid that someone will ask for something.

I'm rambling again. Sorry, old age has made me talkative. "

"No way. We like to hear how big-hearted our elders are. "

"Anyway, it was another beautiful summer evening. That day, all the neighbors gathered at Uncle Kamil's house. Uncle Kamil was a beekeeper. He had 3 sons and 4 daughters.

That day, Uncle Kamil told a story from his past. This story has changed many lives. It will continue to change many lives. But the person who started it all was not aware of it.

According to the story he told that day, while he was working with his bees again, his middle son went to the beehive and tried to buy some honey. His middle son loved honey very much. Uncle Kamil stopped him because he was still a little boy. Then he turned to his son and said.

"All right. Since you want honey so much, I will give you all the honey from this beehive.

He was pointing to one of the beehives.

Uncle Kazım continued his story.

"I don't know whether it was my bad luck or my child's bad luck that year.

There was no honey in dozens of hives, but there was honey only in the one I pointed to. "

(Uncle Kamil's story is true. It is even the inspiration for this book.).

When I heard this story, it was like a light bulb went on in my mind and Karun's mind, but something was missing. In the years that followed, Karun and I thought a lot about it together.

We knew we would get something out of pursuing this, but we didn't know exactly what.

Maybe it started out as a hobby, but over time it became an obsession.

Of course, something like the Internet had not been invented yet, so we either asked the elders or searched in libraries.

One day we found a book in an old bookstore. It belonged to a scholar who lived in the 15th or 16th century.

That's when we realized we had found what we had been looking for for years.