The scene that introduced almost all of the core motifs of TCM: the colour palette, the story-within-the-story framing, and the nightingale and rose.

The nightingale (bolbol) and the rose (gol) are stock motifs in the tradition of the diwan, originating from Sufi poetry in Persia (more info).

The basic idea is that the nightingale represents the poet – the artist’s voice – who longs for the rose, which represents the beloved. The most interesting thing about this is that in Sufi poetry (or much of medieval Middle/Near Eastern poetry), the rose represents two kinds of the beloved – Earthly Love (as in, your romantic partner), and Divine Love (as in, God). They are not separate, but two sides of the same coin. The love that that artist devotes to the romantic or platonic beloved is the same, or from the same source, as his love for the divine. To further emphasise this sameness of love, this kind of poetry is set in a Garden of Paradise, which could be a literal garden on earth, or heaven. In Islamic conceptions of heaven, not only is Paradise/Jannah where you meet God, it’s where you reunite with the people you love i.e your family, which includes your spouse.

I don’t remember how I stumbled upon it –  probably related to one of my researches into the narrative traditions of Turkiye. I was struck by how well the motifs fit neatly with the characters and themes of TCM.

The story that Safiye tells is an original story inspired by common divan themes as well as themes in this comic. Those opening lines have become so a part of TCM’s identity… and has definitely influenced how I opened my retelling of the Alexander Romance. (“Come, my friends. Come and bear witness, with your two eyes and two ears and one voice, to my stories among stories. Of this king of many names and many faces. Of Alexander the Great.”)