Juliet Marillier - Cybele's Secret

Readers may be interested to learn that the Turkish Van cat is known not only for its apparent enthusiasm for swimming but also for its unmatched eyes, one blue, one yellow. The Bugarski Goran, or Bulgarian shepherd, is a recognized breed of herding dog.

Dealing with languages in the book presented a challenge. The Istanbul of Paula’s time was home to folk of many origins, and within the city there were several discrete communities in which particular languages were probably spoken almost exclusively. However, the city had been Greek before it was Turkish, and Greek remained a common tongue for traders after the Ottomans took control. I hope I have not stretched credibility too far by allowing most of the major characters fluency in this useful language. With few if any Romanian speakers in the city, Teodor would have needed to be fluent in Greek or Turkish, probably both, to conduct his trading business. Paula, a born scholar, would have learned Greek and Latin early so she could read the classics.

Glossary of non-English words

Bektasi

beck- tuh-shee; dervish order in which women have equality in worship

Bugarski Goran

Bulgarian shepherd (breed of dog)

caique

ka-eek; shallow-drafted vessel, powered by banks of oars

camekan

ja-muh-kahn; rest and refreshment area at the hamam

carsi

char-shee; market comprising small streets lined with shops

dervish

an Islamic mystic

destur

make way

djinn

pronounced like the English word gin; genie, spirit

dolman

long robe opening in front, with narrow sleeves

hamam

ha- mahm; Turkish bathhouse

han

traders’ building incorporating market area, storage for goods, and merchants’ accommodation

haremlik

women’s quarters

imam

ee-mahm; Islamic prayer leader

kyria

kee-ree-a; polite Greek form of address for a woman

mahalle

ma-hahl-luh; district or quarter

medrese

muh-dra-suh; Muslim religious school, usually associated with and situated near a mosque

muezzin

mweh-zin; person who gives the call to prayer

Mufti

moof-tee; authority on Islamic religious law. The Sheikh-ul-Islam was Mufti of Istanbul and the Sultan’s principal authority on matters of religion and religious law

peri

Turkish fairy woman

pestamal

pesh-tuh-mahl; cloth used to cover the body while at the hamam

tulum

traditional musical instrument, similar to a bagpipe

Stea de Mare

steh-uh duh mah-reh; starfish (sea star)

Esperanca

Eh-spuh-rahn-tsa; hope

Places

Aya Sofia

eye-uh so-fee-uh; Istanbul’s most famous monument, a church built by the emperor Justinian and converted under Ottoman rulers to a mosque

Bosphorus

strait linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, separates Istanbul into western (European) and eastern (Asian) parts

Brasov

bra- shove; major trading town in Transylvania

Constana

kahn-stahn-tsa; trading port on the west coast of the Black Sea; loading point for overland travel through Transylvania

Galata

district of Istanbul, situated on the eastern side of the Golden Horn and populated mostly by foreign merchants

Golden Horn

broad horn- shaped inlet separating western Istanbul into two sections; main docks located here

Rumeli Hisari

roo-muh-luh hih-sa-ruh; fortress built by Mehmet the Conqueror at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus

Samarkand

city on the caravan route from Anatolia to the East

Tabriz

city on the caravan route from Anatolia to the East

Topkapi Palace

tahp- ka-puh; main residence of the Sultan’s household in Istanbul

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2008 by Juliet Marillier

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Marillier, Juliet.

Cybele’s secret/Juliet Marillier.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: Scholarly eighteen-year-old Paula and her merchant father journey from Transylvania to Istanbul to buy an ancient pagan artifact rumored to be charmed, but others, including a handsome Portuguese pirate and an envoy from the magical Wildwood, want to acquire the item as well.

eISBN: 978-0-375-89143-4

[1. Antiquities—Fiction. 2. Fathers and daughters—Fiction. 3. Merchants—Fiction. 4. Pirates—Fiction. 5. Supernatural—Fiction. 6. Magic—Fiction. 7. Cults—Fiction. 8. Sisters—Fiction. 9. Istanbul (Turkey)—History—Fiction. 10. Turkey—History—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.M33856Cyb 2008

[Fic]—dc22

2008004758

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