Leyla: The Black Tulip

Growing Tulips

That winter, everything freezes. Laleena and her siblings and friends have snowball contests and go ice skating on the lake. Although those activities are fun, the cold winter is difficult, too. They are always cold at night. They huddle together in all their clothes for warmth. They just barely have enough to eat. The twins, growing bigger, are always hungry. Laleena is hungry, too, but she doesn’t complain.

When spring finally arrives, the tulips in their garden begin to blossom. They reach for the sky and open their bulbs. Surprisingly, they are not all purple. They are all colors of the rainbow. They’re so lovely that news begins to spread of the beautiful tulips.

One day, an old scribe named Ilia comes to visit. He has traveled to many lands and knows many things. He explains tulips, once called lâle, were originally from this area. The Dutch got their first tulip bulbs from the padishahs a hundred years ago, and they began to grow their own. They send tulips back to the Sultan every year as interest for the gift. The tulips became so valuable that many rich people have traded their houses for tulips. Now, the Ottomans import their tulips from the Dutch. They cross the bulbs and sell them for unthinkable prices. They come in all shapes and sizes, except for black. Nobody has been able to grow a black tulip.

This story confirms Laleena’s belief that the tulips hold great value. Cengiz and Laleena continue to try to cross-breed them, trying to convince the dark tulips to grow even darker. But despite their efforts, they cannot grow a black tulip, and their household remains poor.