Once upon a time, I don't know where it was, but somewhere it was, there was a cat. This cat was treated very unkindly by his mistress, she was very bitter, and in her grief and sorrow she took her own life, left her mistress and went away.
But not to confuse the two, before he set off, he found a big red carrot in the yard, made a cart out of it, suddenly caught two mice, put them in front of the cart, and set off to hide.
They go, they go, they go, they go, they go, they go, they go, they go, they go, they go, they go. The cat thinks to himself: we won't get far. He took two more mice on the road, put them in front of the other two, and drove on.
As they walk, they meet a crab. The crab asks:
- Where are you going, cat?
- I'm going to wander.
- Take me too, because the fish have chased me out of the water.
- So why did they chase me out?
- That's because I used to pinch them with my scissors.
- Well, come on, sit up.
They go on, they walk, and in the middle of the road there are two eggs. One of the eggs says to the cat:
- Where are you going, cat?
- I'm going to wander.
- Take us with you! We had no place to stay with our mistress, for she wished us to hatch three chickens, and we had only one.
- All right, come on, sit up.
The eggs sat on the carrot cart and the cat drove on. All at once, ten swallows and ten larks got on the cart. They didn't even ask the cat if they could or couldn't, they settled down and went on their way.
Not even a good drive away, they find a lot of pins in the road. The cat asks:
- How did you get here?
- We did so, because one of our companions stabbed our wife, and she threw us all out on the road in a rage.
- Well, you just get on the wagon and come with us.
They go on, they walk, and towards evening they come to a small cottage. In this little cottage lived an old woman, the cat went in, greeted her politely and asked for a place to stay for the night.
Says the old woman:
- I'd give my heart, but here every night there come thieves, and here you'll have no peace.
But the cat had talked so much that they were not afraid of the hoodlums, that the old woman had given them shelter. The four mice were tied up in the barn. The two eggs sat in the fiery ashes. The crabs went into the water basin, the pins into the towel, the cat hid in the corner of the door, the swallows went under the eaves and the lark went to the roof of the house.
So indeed, at night the rabble come, enter the house, settle down by the stove, and want to light a fire.
But as soon as they flicked the ashes, the two hot eggs cracked, and their eyes were full of egg hair and yolk. O, my lord, my creator, the yokels were frightened, the egg burned their faces hard, they ran to the water-basin to wash.
But as soon as they reached into the bucket, the crab pinched their fingers. They scraped the towel off the bottom edge to wipe themselves, but the pins stung them good.
They are even more frightened, they run outside, and there the cat jumps at them and scratches their faces.
They went out into the yard as if they had taken their eyes, but there the swallows and larks started chirping:
- Rascals, rascals! Take him!
As many as there were, they ran away, never coming back to the old woman's house.
In the morning, the cat thanked the old woman for the shelter, put the four mice in the beetroot cart, and they all rolled up and went on their way.
But as soon as they came to a bridge, look what happened. The mice, for better or worse, were frightened, and the cart was thrown into the water. Oh, my God, there was a scare. The larks and the swallows, whoosh, they flew up and away. The cat, too, swam out with a great noise, but the poor crab remained in the water, and the pins, too.
If they had not stayed in the water, my story would have lasted longer.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 2)
