It is said that thousands of years ago, snakes lived seven levels underground in Tarsus. These merciful and intelligent snakes, called Meran, were known to live in peace. The ruler of the Meran was called Şahmeran. Şahmeran was said to know secrets and mysteries unknown to anyone. According to the legend of Cemşab and Şahmeran, it is told that Cemşab was the first to see the young and beautiful Şahmeran.

Cemşab, the son of a family who made a living by selling wood, is said to have discovered a cave full of honey in the forest with his friends. It is mentioned that his friends lowered Cemşab to extract the honey and that they took out most of it. His friends, wanting a larger share of the honey, left him in the cave after lowering him for the last jar of honey and fled.

It is told that Cemşab saw a hole letting light into the cave, enlarged it with his knife, and entered a garden more beautiful than he had ever seen. This garden was said to have beautiful flowers whose names were unknown. He then saw a palace and decided to go to it, but he was frightened upon seeing the snakes in the garden. At that moment, Şahmeran emerged from the palace and assured him that the snakes would not harm him, inviting him to come closer.

It is known that Cemşab lived there for many years and earned Şahmeran's trust. One day, he expressed his deep longing for his family and begged to leave. In response, Şahmeran agreed to let him go on the condition that he would never reveal her location to anyone. It is said that after reuniting with his family, Cemşab kept his promise to Şahmeran and did not tell anyone about her or her whereabouts.

One day, the king of the country fell ill. It is said that the vizier declared that the cure for the illness was to eat Şahmeran's flesh and spread the word everywhere. Since no one disclosed Şahmeran's location, all the people were taken to the bathhouse, as it was believed that the skin of anyone who had seen Şahmeran would scale when touched by water. When Cemşab's skin scaled, he was tortured until he was forced to reveal Şahmeran's location.

Şahmeran was found and brought out from underground. It is said that Cemşab boiled Şahmeran's head as instructed by her and drank it, gaining all her knowledge; he boiled her body and gave it to the king, who recovered; and he boiled her tail and gave it to the vizier, poisoning and killing him. When the king recovered, he made Cemşab his vizier in gratitude.

According to the legend, the snakes do not know that Şahmeran has been killed. It is said that when the snakes learn of Şahmeran's death, they will invade Tarsus. "Adana will fall from floods, Misis from winds, Tarsus from snakes, and Mersin from lies."