story of Daphne and apollo

Apollo, the God of Light, son of Zeus, sees a young and beautiful girl by the river. The name of this unique beauty is Daphne (Defne). Apollo wants to talk to him. But Defne begins to run away from the God of Light. He runs away, Apollo chases him and shouts, "Don't run away, I love you." Defne gets scared and continues to run away. As for Apollo, he definitely wants to capture this beautiful fairy. The distance between them becomes shorter and shorter, and there comes a moment when Defne hears Apollo's breath in her hair. Realizing that there is no possibility of salvation anymore, Defne stops suddenly and scrapes the ground with her foot and shouts: "O mother earth, cover me, hide me, protect me." Upon this sincere plea, Defne feels her organs become heavy and wooden. A gray shell covers his chest, his scented hair turns into leaves, his arms grow into branches, his young feet become roots and dive deep into the ground, becoming a laurel tree.
Surprised by this sight, Apollo watches with amazement and sadness as Defne turns into a tree. Then he hugs her and hears the sound of her heart, which is still beating under the hard shells, and calls out: “Laurel, from now on, you will be the sacred tree of Apollo. Those leaves that do not fade and do not fall will be the wreath of my head. Valuable heroes, those who achieve victory in wars, will always adorn their foreheads with your leaves. Our names will be mentioned side by side in songs and poems." Upon these sweet words, Laurel bows her branches and greets Apollo with respect. The place where this story takes place is today's Harbiye. Apallon, in awe and excitement, took that tree as an emblem and made a crown on his head from its shiny leaves. Since then, the victory of poetry and arms has been rewarded with the Laurel branch, and it is believed that the tears of Laurel still create waterfalls in Harbiye today.