Once upon a time, there was a king in the world who had a beautiful, beautiful daughter who never smiled, who was always sad, and no one could make her laugh. The king was very sad that his beautiful fair daughter was so given to sorrow; he proclaimed in the land that whoever could make his daughter laugh would marry her and half his kingdom.
There was a shepherd who had a little golden-haired lamb, and it had the property that anyone who touched it would stick to it as if it had just grown out of it. One day the shepherd was out grazing, and as he was grazing, a girl came along for sale; she stroked the lamb, and it stuck. The shepherd starts:
- Come forth, come forth, my sweet golden-haired lamb, the great lamb in thy fleece.
He drove the lamb on, a priest passed by and hit the girl with his stick.
- Hey, you big fool, what are you doing here? - he's stuck there. The shepherd started again:
- Come forth, come forth, my sweet golden-haired lamb, the great maiden on the end of thy fleece, the priest on the end of the staff.
Then a woman walked by with a baking tray in her hand. She banged the baking-slate on the priest's tail.
- Come now, Reverend, why do you hurt that poor girl!
This one stuck; the shepherd started again:
- Come forth, come forth, my sweet golden-haired lamb, the great maiden on thy fleece, the priest on his staff, the priest's tail the shovel, the shovel's end the woman.
A soldier came by again, leading a steed; he took her arm in mischief, and was soon stuck. The shepherd began again:
- Come forth, come forth, my sweet golden-haired lamb, On the end of your hair is the great maiden, On the back of the great maiden is the staff, At the end of the staff is the priest, On the end of the priest's tail is the shovel, At the end of the shovel is the woman, On the arm of the woman is the soldier, In the soldier's hand is the bridle, On the bridle is the pipe.
Again a weaver came with a bundle of canvas, and threw it at the horse's tail.
- My, what a beautiful steed this is! - This one is stuck with it. The shepherd started:
- Come forth, come forth, my sweet golden-haired lamb, on the hair of your head is the great maiden, on the back of the great maiden is the staff, at the end of the staff is the priest, on the tail of the priest is the shovel, at the end of the shovel is the woman, on the arm of the woman is the soldier, in the soldier's hand is the bridle, on the bridle is the paripa, on the tail of the paripa is the canvas, at the end of the canvas is the weaver.
Again a seamstress came, brought a bunch of kaptas, and threw them at the weaver.
- What are you looking at, my lord?
This one is stuck too. The shepherd just started:
- Come forth, come forth, my sweet golden-haired lamb, on the end of your hair is the great maiden, on the back of the great maiden is the stick, on the end of the stick is the priest, on the tail of the priest is the shovel, on the end of the shovel is the woman, on the arm of the woman is the soldier, on the arm of the soldier is the reins, on the reins is the paripa, on the tail of the paripa is the canvas, on the end of the canvas is the weaver, on the back of the weaver is the kapta, on the end of the kapta is the sewing machine.
As he thus led them on, the king passed by with his sad daughter. The princess, seeing the oddity, laughed so heartily that she was almost choked with laughter.
And the king, when he saw him, called the shepherd to him, and gave him half his kingdom and his fair daughter; and they swore, and made a great feast, and are alive to this day, if they be not dead.
(László Arany: Hungarian folk tales)
