Once upon a time, beyond the seven seas, beyond the Peruvian Sea, beyond the glass mountains, beyond a lame bride, there was a king and his two sons. The eldest son, when he was a little grown up, and his moustache grew, married a fair princess, but the younger was encouraged in vain by his father; he said he would not marry till he found the fairest princess in all the world.
- 'Well, you can look for her,' said his brother, 'because I married the most beautiful princess.
- 'Why, your wife is beautiful,' said the prince, 'but I don't think she is more beautiful than she is in this world.
The nurse who was bringing up the younger son heard this speech, and when the elder prince went on, he said to the little prince:
- Surely you have said well that there is a more beautiful queen in this world than your brother's wife. But neither your brother nor his wife will tell you, because that beautiful princess is the sister of your brother's wife.
- Well, if it is, I'll go after it.
- 'Hold on, son,' says the old woman, 'you won't find it in her father's house. It's hidden in a reed. Have you heard the news of the Black Sea? There are three reeds in the seventy-seventh island of the Black Sea, in the middle of which is the fair queen, and in the two outer ones are her two maids. But on this island is so dark that you can hang your sword on it. Then, if you can find your way there, an old witch guards the three reeds, and she guards them better than the world of her two eyes, for her candle of life burns only until someone cuts these three reeds.
For the prince needed nothing else, he saddled his best horse and set out that very day to visit the beautiful Lady Reed. He went against seven and seven countries, and by evening he came into a great many forests, and in many a great many forests he entered a little cottage. There lived no one but an old woman.
He greets the woman properly, she greets him properly, and asks:
- Where do you go, my son, where no bird goes? - I am looking for the fair Lady of the Reeds, who is hidden in a reed on the seventy-seventh island of the Black Sea. Have you heard the news?
- I have heard neither his name nor his tidings, my dear boy, but my aunt lives over the hill, in the round woods, and she may have heard his tidings. Hey, Micky, get out of the way! - said she to her cat, "Give this fellow a sign!
The cat escaped from the bag, and the prince followed him. By the time he was done, he found the other old woman. He tells her what's in it for him. The old woman listens and listens, as if thinking hard, and then says:
- Hey, my son, you'll never get there in your life if you don't get a steed that sucked dragon's milk, ate burning coals, and drank fire. But what's the matter with thy head? Here are three golden hairs, these three golden hairs I will pull out of thy head, I will add a lock of thine handles.
Then when you get to such and such a high hill, strike the three golden hairs with the string, and suddenly the steed with the trolls will come to you. The old woman pulls the three golden strands from the prince's head, gives him the handle, and he thanks her, and doesn't stop until he reaches the top of that high mountain.
There he flicks the three golden hairs with the handle, and behold, behold a wonder: heaven and earth are shaken, a golden-haired steed rides out of the air with a mighty gallop, a steed from a golden-haired steed is seen, the flame bursts from its two noses, and three in succession it whinnies, so that the whole world is shaken and enthralled, and only falls in front of the prince.
- Here I am, little master! But listen to me, what happened to the string! A pretty, pretty bridle, how she shone, how she shone.
- Well, little master, how can I go? Like the wind, or like a bird, or even more swiftly, like a thought?
Said the prince:
- Like a thought, my sweet horse.
- All right, all right, little master, I know what is in your heart. But we shall go in vain to the seventy-seventh island of the Black Sea, Till we have visited the bright court of the sun, And from it we bring a burning ray.
The herald descends into the air, takes off like a bird, then rushes on, splits the air, gallops like a thought, and in a moment they arrive at the gate of Earth. Yea, but at the gate of the earth stood two wolves, and they said that they would not let the king's man through the gate till he gave two pounds of flesh from his horse.
Thinks the prince, I will not give of my horse's flesh, but of my own. He took his star-shaped knife out of his pocket, wrested two pounds of flesh from his thigh, and threw it to the wolves.
- You can go now," said the wolves.
The herald flew, and behold, the prince had hardly closed his eyes when the herald spoke:
- Open your eyes, little master, here we are in the bright courtyard of the sun.
The prince descends, and there in the court of the sun is a golden bath, in the golden bath a bath of fire, in it he bathed, on a diamond cloth a golden towel, in it he wiped himself, on a silver shelf a golden comb, with which he combed his hair, and there was a mirror up to his feet, and he stood and looked at himself.
But my lord, listen to what has happened! An angry old man, surely a servant of the sun, comes out into the courtyard, sees the king's son looking at himself in the mirror, blows furiously at him, and a terrifying wind blows up, blowing him away, horse and all, so that their feet did not touch the ground for seventy-seven thousand miles.
Then they fell into a hole so dark that they could see neither sky nor earth. Alas, the prince is in mourning! He thought that never, so long as this world and two days more, Shall he see the blessed bright sun, Let alone one ray of it to the seventy-seventh isle of the Black Sea.
Crawling and crawling they groped to and fro, sometimes stepping on a snake, sometimes on a frog, and when seven days and seven nights had passed, they came to a great iron gate. Now here they could slip and crawl, for here stood a hundred-headed dragon, his istrasse. He would not let through the gate.
Sighing, the poor prince wondered what to do now. He felt this way and that way with his hand, in case he could go in another direction, and suddenly he had a stick in his hand. It was not a stick, but a flute. In his grief and sorrow he blew into the flute, and it sounded so beautiful that angels could not play better. And what do you think happened?
What happened was that the dragon with a hundred heads lay down on the ground, not moving a head, listening to the flute. But the prince was brave enough to walk out through the iron gate. Well, as he passed through the iron gate, the darkness began to open, and what did his eyes see?
There comes to her a beautiful maiden, who was none other than the Dawn herself, the most beautiful and dearest daughter of the Sun. How it came to pass, as it came to pass, I know not; I have seen it as it is to-day, but it is enough that the prince took a fancy to the prince of the dawn, and set her on his winged horse, and led her against seven and seven countries, through beautiful and fair lands, unseen by man.
First he took her down to the copper forest. There, the Sun's woodcutters worked, cutting and bending the trees, loading them onto wagons and taking them to the Sun's kitchen. From there he took it to the silver forest. There, silver birds sang beautiful songs, and the silver trees bowed to the dawn three times in succession.
He took it from the silver forest to the golden forest. The song of the golden birds rang in the forest, and the trees bowed to the dawn three times in succession. In the midst of this golden forest was the garden of Twilight, and in the midst of this garden was the palace of Twilight's diamonds, and as Twilight came, all the shining stars gathered, and then Twilight beckoned, And out of the air came down a purple chariot, and in the purple chariot was a golden steed, and there he sat with the prince, and up and up and up they went, until they came to the bright court of the sun.
There, Dawn chose a ray, called it into the prince's hair, and said:
- Well, prince, you can go now, you'll find Miss Beautiful Reed.
And behold, in the twinkling of an eye, from whence and whence not, there comes the prince's steed, the prince leaps on it, and they gallop against the seventeen countries towards the Black Sea. But suddenly the herald spoke and said:
- Do you hear, my little master, I am coming to the seventy-seventh island of the Black Sea, but be careful to cut the three reeds at the same time, or your life will be over. You must not cut those three reeds until you get to some water, for if you cannot give them water, all three will die a horrible death before your eyes.
For seven days and seven nights the herald galloped, and then they reached the seventy-seventh island of the Black Sea. Now this island was dark enough for the prince to hang his sword upon. But the prince took off his cap, and the sun in his hair shone, and all at once there was a brilliant light. There were indeed three reeds in the middle of the island, and as soon as the prince reached them, the three reeds bent before him, though there was no wind.
The prince drew his sword, whipped it, and cut off all three stalks of reeds with one stroke. And, behold, black blood gushed out from the roots of the three reeds, and a bitter wailing sounded from the ground. The black blood was the blood of the old witch; the bitter wailing was her wailing. No harm to any man's soul, and the prince could go back from her.
He laid the three reeds in his lap, and said to his horse, "Now, my sweet horse, take me to my home; I have not seen my father or my mother for a long time. And the prince looked and looked at the three reeds, and wished he could split them open to see if there were a girl in them. Perhaps he had been lured in vain to the seventy-seventh island of the Black Sea.
He took out his star-shaped knife, and cut open a reed, and out of it fell a beautiful maiden, one of the maids of the fair and beautiful Miss Reed. That was his first word:
- Water, water, because I'm about to die!
But only now was he really scared. He would have given me water, but he was nowhere to be found. It didn't take him a moment, the girl was dead, and from the two reeds came a bitter cry. The poor girl was surely mourned. The prince mourned, and then grief came upon him. He begged the maiden, he woke her, but in vain she would not wake. He dismounted his horse, dug a grave with his sword, and buried the maiden.
Then they went on, and whether the devil got into him or what, God knows, he split the other reed. It was just as it had been the first time. He could not give her water, and the other maid of the beautiful reed lady died.
But now the prince vowed to guard the third reed as the apple of his eye. That he would not split it until they came to a spring somewhere. Oh, how he would have loved to see the beautiful reed! But wherever they went, there was a terrible wilderness. They saw not a drop of water, and then they died of thirst. But all at once, the herald came down out of the air, right next to a spring of water.
- Now, my sweet master, you can split the reed. But first draw water for your flask.
The prince lays down his hat, and then he splits the reed, so as not to harm the frail body of the fair and beautiful Miss Reed, and lo, out of the reed springs a maiden so beautiful, such as no human eye has ever seen. And there they were in each other's arms.
- You are mine, I am yours, spade, hoe and big bell shall separate us!
Then they both mounted the steed, and the steed leaped one, and leaped two, and landed in the prince's father's court. There sat the king in the porch of the palace, and there sat his eldest son and his daughter-in-law, but there was dreaming! They had long since mourned the king's son, and thought they would never see him again. And behold, he was found.
He brought the most beautiful princess in the world. The old king was glad, and what his son and daughter-in-law should do, they were glad too. They gave a feast for seven countries, the gypsies went to it, the lads and lasses went to it, they still go to it, if they can. The end is here, run away!
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 2)
