First published in 1996. A ten-hour tale, long enough to fill a night in the telling, artful enough to keep all its listeners eagerly awake: such marathon narratives constitute a recurrent theme found in folktales worldwide. This entire book records, annotates and interprets one such rare performance, by Behcet Mahir. a man who joins great storytellers whose art has survived their deaths and transcended their native communities to become the shared heritage of a worldwide audience of lovers of oral tales.

Warren S. Walker

Part 1 The Legend of Hamzai Sahip Kiran; Chapter 1 First night; narration of January 9, 1977; Chapter 2 Second night; narration of January 10, 1977; Chapter 3 Third night; narration of January 11, 1977; Chapter 4 Fourth night; narration of January 12, 1977; Chapter 5 Fifth night; narration of January 13, 1977;