18. A retired postman from Turkey and a beautiful white swan have been always together for nearly forty years, and the story of their friendship has warmed the hearts of millions.
In 1984 Recep Mirzan was in a car with a group of friends, when he saw a swan that appeared to have a broken wing in an empty field.
Mirzan quickly realized that leaving the bird there was the same as signing its death sentence, as meat-eating animals would have most likely eaten it, so he stopped the car and took the bird with him. He kept it in the car until evening, when he took it home and started nursing it back to health.
"Since I love animals, I said to myself that I should take her home instead of leaving her as dinner to foxes," Mirzan said, "We got used to each other. We never separated."
Even after the swan's broken wing healed (痊愈), it didn't try to fly away. Instead, it acted as a friend to the other animals on Recep's farm, and decided to stick around. Recep named her Garip and now she has been with him ever since.
"She comes when I call. Since 1984, she has never left me, not even during the river floods, "the retired postman said. "She used to be stronger, but she has grown old now. If she dies, I will make her a nice grave (墓穴) here, but I hope we live more together."
During the day, she is busy following her human friend around, either during his daily chores, or on his evening walks.
After his wife died a few years ago, Recep Mirzan started spending more time with his animals, and since he has no human children, he regards Garip as his child.