Once upon a time, I don't know where it was, but somewhere it was, once upon a time there was a king, and the king had twelve sons. These twelve sons were always together, and especially in the woods they loved to play.
But every time they went into the forest, they always met an old grey man who stopped them and advised them:
- My sons, don't always walk in the woods, go see the world for a while!
The boys told their father at home what the old man always said to them, but the king refused to let them go. But the grey old man would always stand in front of them, even when they went to other woods.
Again, he advised them to go out and see the world, otherwise it would not end well. They could not calm down from the old man. So they talked to their father until he let them go.
- Go, then, with the news of God, see the world!
They got on their horses and went out into the world. The first day they fell asleep in a forest, and there in the forest they found a castle. They didn't ask who lived in the castle, they went straight in, went through the rooms, and there were twelve rooms, with a bed in each room.
In one room the table was set for twelve people, and the table was full of all kinds of expensive food and drink. There was also a stable near the castle, and in that stable there was room for twelve horses, and plenty of hay and oats for each horse.
They tied up the horses, fed them with hay and oats, then went back to the castle, sat down at the table, ate and drank, and when they were sleepy, they went to bed. At midnight, the eldest prince wakes up at a word. He hears someone calling him by name:
- John, come out!
The prince rises, goes out into the courtyard, and there he finds a maiden with a face as black as soot. Says the maiden:
- Don't be frightened of me, you prince, because my face is so ugly black. I am a king's daughter, I have eleven brothers and sisters like you. A witch hath defiled our faces, and cursed us that our faces should not be white until twelve princes shall dwell in this castle seven years, seven months, seven weeks, seven days, seven hours, and during that time they shall not go out of the castle, nor marry.
The black girl said no more, disappeared as if swallowed by the earth. In the morning, Prince John told his brothers what had happened to him that night, but his brothers said that even if the twelve maidens were all angels of God, they would not stay so long.
At once they saddled up and went on their way, leaving only John in the castle. But they had not even got out of the forest, when twelve wolves blocked their way, and they could not drive them away, and had to go back to the castle, ashamed to say.
But they could go back there, because then neither they nor their horses would have food or drink. They had to make do with what their brother gave them of his own. The next morning they set out again, whether it was a downpour, a landslide, or whatever, they would go on. But as soon as they left the castle, all eleven boys turned into stone whales.
Prince John was left alone in the castle, there was no one alive outside, but from where, from where there was plenty of food and drink for him and his horse. So year after year passed.
When there were only three days left, the black woman came to him in the evening and said:
- Do you hear, you son of John, the devils are coming to you tonight in the form of your eleven brothers, calling you, luring you with all kinds of fine words, but you must not listen to them! When they see that thou wilt not go with them, they will torment thee, they will afflict thee in every way, but thou shalt suffer it.
It was indeed as the black lady said. The devils came in the night, they surrounded him, they called him, they lured him: come with us, you fool, don't stay here. But Prince John, one word, not many, not even that. And then the devils were angry, and beat him so that his bones were crushed.
In the morning the black lady came, and anointed the body of the prince with all kinds of wax, and it was seven times more beautiful than it had been before. Then she said to Prince John:
- You have passed the first test well, Prince John, but tonight you will have an even harder test. The devils will come again, in the form of your father and mother, calling and luring you again, but you say nothing. When they see that they can do nothing with a kind word, they will torture you, they will torment you, they will bind your hands and feet, they will take you out into the courtyard and hang you. But you, even under the gallows, say nothing, think of me, and fear nothing.
Everything happened as the black lady said. The devils came, called him, lured him, tortured him, hanged him, but in the morning the black woman came, cut the rope, anointed the body of Prince John with all kinds of wickedness, and made him seven times more beautiful than he was before.
But the black woman's face was also half-white. She said to Prince John:
- Look at my face, Prince John, is it turning white? If you can stand the third test, my face will turn white, and then the world will be ours. The devils will come again tonight, in the form of your father, your mother, your brothers and sisters, and all your relatives, and they will torture you, and torment you, and then put you in a fiery coffin and burn you to ashes, but you think of me, and fear nothing.
It was just like the black lady said. The devils came, calling and luring her: come home, you fool, don't lose your life for a black-faced girl, and when the kind words failed, they laid her in a fiery coffin and burned her to ashes.
But in the morning the princess came, and anointed the dust of Prince John, and suddenly he was made alive, and became what he was, but seven times more beautiful than before.
- 'Now, Prince John,' said the Princess, 'look at my face, is it white?
- White, said John, whiter than a white lily.
- "Well, you go on ahead," said the girl, "to the black city, my city, I'll stay here with my brothers and sisters, and then we'll follow you, but remember that on the way you'll meet a beautiful maiden, who will speak to you, beckon you with pretty words to go with her, but you must turn away from her, not a word, otherwise you'll be playing with your life. As you go on, you'll find a table set, with all sorts of expensive food and drink, but don't look at it, don't touch it, for I tell you, you're playing with your life.
With that they said goodbye, and Prince John mounted his horse and set off for the black city. Sure enough, as soon as he came to a forest full of woods, there stood a fair maiden before him, and spoke to her:
- Who are you, what are you, you handsome lad, where do you come from, where are you going? Come with me!
He smiled and laughed, but Prince John turned his head away and went on without a word. He had not gone a good distance before he saw the table laid. He was a little hungry and a little thirsty, but he thought to himself: what on earth can he do if he takes a bite of that red, crispy loaf and drinks a drop of that good Tokay wine, because you'll know that the table was full of Tokay wine and Jesus knows what other good drinks.
He didn't even get off his horse, he just reached down for the loaf, broke off a piece, ate it, and then poured out a bottle of Tokaji wine. Well, in the twinkling of an eye, he fell off his horse and fell into a sleep so deep that no cannon could have woken him.
Soon after, the black lady came in a soft velvet cloak, and found King John on the ground, waving, calling, pulling, but he did not wake up. Then she took her golden penny, and on the blade of Prince John's sword she wrote:
"When you wake up, go back to the castle; in the blind window of the stable you will find an iron nail, cut it in two with your sword. Then all eleven of your brothers will come to life; bring them to the black city. On the way you will come to the shore of the Red Sea, there you will find a giant, he will take you through the sea, but when he takes you through, tell him that you have dropped your ring into the sea, let him go and seek it. And when the giant turns round, cast him into the sea, or else he will destroy you and your eleven brothers with a terrible death.
Not far from the Veres Sea is the triple glass mountain, beyond which is the Black City. Your horses can't get through this mountain, but there is a bakaras of men at the bottom of the mountain. He will speak to you, and tell you all sorts of foolish things, but you say nothing, and he will get angry, and pick up all the horses in turn, and throw them down the glass mountain so that you are falling in the black city."
It was a dark night when Prince John woke up, read the letter by the dinner star, got on his horse, rode back to the castle, ran to the stables, found the iron nail in the blind window, cut it in two with his sword, and the whole court was struck by it, and - what did his eyes see! - All at once his eleven brothers are made alive, and even the horses are made alive.
The royals thought they had only slept one night, and they certainly didn't want to believe that this night had lasted longer than seven years. Now there was plenty of food and drink for them in the castle, and they had a great feast in the warmth of it, and then they got on their horses and off they went! They rode off towards the black city.
Seven days and seven nights they went until they reached the shores of the Veres Sea. There was the giant on the shore of the sea. He took the twelve kings and their horsemen, all of them. He led them one by one across the Red Sea, and there he shook off the horses and the lads. But Prince John did not forget what the black woman had written.
Tell the giant that a dear precious ring of his has fallen into the sea, turn around and fetch it from the bottom. The giant turns around, and Prince John pushes him, and the giant falls into the sea.
The giant shouted, cursed:
- You had the sense, you dog, to push me into it, otherwise you would have all died a horrible death!
"Well," thought Prince John, "the black lady had a brain!"
Suddenly the twelve of them jumped on their horses and galloped like the wind, but on the way they settled down in front of a small house, and went in to see if they could get something to eat and drink. There was no one else in the house but an old woman, but so old that her nose beat the ground.
Prince John greets you:
- Good evening, old mother!
- 'You're lucky,' said the old woman, 'that you called me old mother, otherwise your life would be over.
- "For I have done nothing wrong to anyone," said Prince John.
- Who killed my daughter? - asked the old mother.
- "Not I, I know," said Prince John, "I have never killed anyone in my life.
- "Well, know," said the old woman, "that the iron nail which you cut in two was my daughter. It was the one that bewitched those twelve daughters.
Prince John thought to himself, it will be good to go on from here. He said goodbye to the old woman, even comforted her:
- "Don't say goodbye, old mother, for God gives you a nail instead of a nail!" they started to drive at the triple glass mountain.
But there was the man with the bakaras, jumping, fidgeting, waving.
- Hey, people, hey, who are you, what are you, what are you doing here, huh?! This is my land, my country, my grandfather's grandfather got it. I won't let you go one more step.
The royals laughed at this little man, but they didn't say much, not a word. But now the man of the bakaras was so angry that he said no more, but took the horses in order, and drove them as they were, master and masterless, one after another, through the triple glass mountain.
All twelve of them fell down in the middle of the black city, and as I saw today, they didn't have a dog problem. They went straight to the black castle. Out on the porch sat the twelve maidens, waiting for the twelve princes. All twelve maidens were as white as the white lily, and whiter than the white lily.
Both the boys and the girls became friends and sweethearts. Twelve priests were summoned that day, and they put them together, and then twelve gypsy gangs, and they pulled them together as best they could. I have told you a story as well as I could, and if I knew better I would tell you more.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 2)
