The Very Prudent Decisions of Hortlakçı Süleyman Hoca
Jul 31, 2026 · 31 min · 6 segments
Süleyman discovers a secret cave and becomes a troublesome guest \** Süleyman was played by Gem Aydın The Voivod Under the Mountain was played by David Ault \**…
To my wife Nilüfer, my beloved flower, I write to you from the encampment of the forces of Karahmet Pasha.
I arrived yesterday along with a party of sages and wise men, some of whom it has been my pleasure to discourse upon matters of law and scripture with, on the journey here.
I was the youngest among them by at least a decade, so they graciously took it upon themselves to instruct me on many things.
I have been given a very small tent and a bedroll to use for myself.
There is only just enough room in here to sit and write on a wooden board I have borrowed for this purpose, so you must forgive me if my hand is a little shaky.
They are encamped in the valley of the river Struma, which flows south to the Aegean Sea, past the town of Cuma Ubala, which is famous for its mineral hot springs.
Above us is a great mountain known as Vihran, which in days of old was thought to be the throne of a very powerful thunder spirit named Perun.
It is a very magnificent mountain, a sultan among the mountains, towering over its companions, capped in bright white marble and skirted with thick forest on the sides.
The forest contains many very old and thick trees, oaks and hornbeams in the lower reaches, and mountain pines and junipers higher up.
Right up near the snows, there is grassland dotted with moss and flowers.
As we traveled, we passed a number of deep blue lakes and deeper caves.
It is a beautiful place indeed.
When I presented myself before Karahmet Pasha, he was much surprised.
He had expected the famous hortlakçı Süleyman Hoca to be an old man with a long beard reaching his feet, a wise sage well versed in law and experience in life, like the other men sent from Istanbul, and not a boy barely out of school.
I hid my dismay at being dismissed by such a respected personage among the educated company and tried to maintain the calm and scholarly air which has served me well in the past.
I responded as politely as I could that I was simply here to perform my assigned task and asked if I might know the full details of this matter.
He waved one of his men over and ordered him to explain it all to me, then dismissed us both and began discourse with the sages I have arrived with.
It was obvious that he did not believe I would be any use.
As you can imagine, my flower, this dismayed me at first, but I rallied and became more determined than ever to prove myself up to the task.
Have I not been underestimated before? My escort was Yahya Bey, and he was one of the Vizier's unit commanders.
Or indeed, he had been until a significant part of his command was lost under the unexplained circumstances.
The army had arrived here some week or so before and made camp, awaiting the arrival of several cohorts of musketeers, cavalry and deliler to swell their numbers.
Once they established themselves, they had gone into the forest to cut down trees to build temporary fortifications, and foraged and hunted for food to feed themselves while they waited.
To my wife Nilüfer, my beloved flower, I write to you from the encampment of the forces of Karahmet Pasha.
I arrived yesterday along with a party of sages and wise men, some of whom it has been my pleasure to discourse upon matters of law and scripture with, on the journey here.
I was the youngest among them by at least a decade, so they graciously took it upon themselves to instruct me on many things.
I have been given a very small tent and a bedroll to use for myself.
There is only just enough room in here to sit and write on a wooden board I have borrowed for this purpose, so you must forgive me if my hand is a little shaky.
They are encamped in the valley of the river Struma, which flows south to the Aegean Sea, past the town of Cuma Ubala, which is famous for its mineral hot springs.
Above us is a great mountain known as Vihran, which in days of old was thought to be the throne of a very powerful thunder spirit named Perun.
It is a very magnificent mountain, a sultan among the mountains, towering over its companions, capped in bright white marble and skirted with thick forest on the sides.
The forest contains many very old and thick trees, oaks and hornbeams in the lower reaches, and mountain pines and junipers higher up.
Right up near the snows, there is grassland dotted with moss and flowers.
As we traveled, we passed a number of deep blue lakes and deeper caves.
It is a beautiful place indeed.
When I presented myself before Karahmet Pasha, he was much surprised.
He had expected the famous hortlakçı Süleyman Hoca to be an old man with a long beard reaching his feet, a wise sage well versed in law and experience in life, like the other men sent from Istanbul, and not a boy barely out of school.
I hid my dismay at being dismissed by such a respected personage among the educated company and tried to maintain the calm and scholarly air which has served me well in the past.
I responded as politely as I could that I was simply here to perform my assigned task and asked if I might know the full details of this matter.
He waved one of his men over and ordered him to explain it all to me, then dismissed us both and began discourse with the sages I have arrived with.
It was obvious that he did not believe I would be any use.
As you can imagine, my flower, this dismayed me at first, but I rallied and became more determined than ever to prove myself up to the task.
Have I not been underestimated before? My escort was Yahya Bey, and he was one of the Vizier's unit commanders.
Or indeed, he had been until a significant part of his command was lost under the unexplained circumstances.
The army had arrived here some week or so before and made camp, awaiting the arrival of several cohorts of musketeers, cavalry and deliler to swell their numbers.
Once they established themselves, they had gone into the forest to cut down trees to build temporary fortifications, and foraged and hunted for food to feed themselves while they waited.
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