Let's stone the pear

We have a saying: “Pears were plentiful in the field / Those who ate and drank were full / Those who met their loved ones / There was no questioning.”

Experts list the benefits of pears: They flush urea acid and urea salts from the blood. They help the kidneys function properly. They prevent constipation and act as a diuretic. They also lower high blood pressure and purify the blood.

The people of Malatya say: “Let’s stone the pear / Let’s winter under it.”

Our ancestors said about the quince, “The blonde girl keeps hanging down / She keeps falling down, afraid of falling.” “Nasreddin Hodja had two married daughters. One day, they came to visit their father. Hodja said to his daughters:

“How do you make a living?” he asked.

One of the girls' husbands was a potter, the other a farmer. The one with the potter's husband said:

"My husband made many jugs, pots, and jars and left them to dry. If it doesn't rain, he'll buy me clothes." The other said:

"My husband has planted a lot of crops, if it rains he will take me on the Hajj pilgrimage," said the Hodja.

"One of you will eat the quince, but it is not clear which one of you," he said.

Although the expression "eating a quince" is used in a negative sense due to the difficulty in swallowing it while eating it, there are many benefits of eating quince in real life:

Here are a few of the benefits doctors list: It prevents arteriosclerosis. It's good for liver sluggishness. Quince syrup stops diarrhea and dysentery. It strengthens the stomach and intestines. It's good for bronchitis and coughs. Boiling the seeds and drinking the broth softens the chest. An ointment made from the seeds is used for cracked lips and nipples, and for eczema. Burning quince leaves, crushing them thoroughly before applying them to the eyes, is beneficial. The flowers relieve headaches and are good for the heart and brain. Quince juice relieves constipation. Cooking the flowers with honey and giving them to a nursing mother will increase milk production.

Those whose bellies have become fat are called quince-bellied.

Quince frequently appears in our poems. Here is one : “Look at the smoke, look at the smoke / I buried a quince in the hay / Your godless son / I brought him to faith.”

And are you looking at me, wondering if it's time for a folk song? Listen to it from the late Neşet Ertaş:

“I have quince, orange and pomegranate

I have a ah u dice

I always cry because of my troubles

I have an unfaithful lover

Quince, orange, pomegranate are in my possession

My mind took over, my friend.

Don't use any balm

I have a wound

Quince orange what should I do

Let me present my situation

I don't have any luck anyway

I've been like this since I was little."

Grapes hold a special place among the fruits in our folklore. A proverb says, "A grape darkens by looking at another grape."

As a person living abroad, I often felt empathy and tears filled my eyes while listening to this Sivas folk song from Zaralı Halil:

"The grapes are black in trust

My bunch is flat black

I can't go to that place.

My hands are empty and my face is black.

I know that. May God never leave anyone empty-handed enough to buy at least two kilos of fruit. Our ancestors, mothers, and sisters said of grapes, "Its mother is crooked / Its father is Crazy Hasan / She is more beautiful than her own daughter." A nursery rhyme sung at the end of children's games about grapes reads: "What's under my feet? / Grape... / Everyone goes home, straight..." We have folk songs about grapes and vines:

“You have grapes in your vine, / I have a say in your grapes. / Two beauties in one house, / I have my eye on the bigger one.”

“There are only grapes left on the vine, / I have not eaten, my eyes are left, / Weep, my eyes are left, / My daughter is left abroad.”

Here is another riddle of ours: “The buttonhole should be looped / The buttonhole should be buttoned / Either one should know this / Either one should give forty sheep” I am not a forty sheep, let me remind you of a final song:

“Our house should be hung

Our love has just fallen

If love goes on like this

"One of us will crack and die"