Once upon a time, across seventeen countries, even beyond the glass mountains where the pig with the short tail roams, there was a poor man.
This poor man went out with his son to plough the field, and as soon as he turned one or two turns, the boy suddenly cried out:
- Look, my lord, look, I found a key!
- "Yes, a key," says the poor man. "Oh, but it would be nice if you could find a box to go with it!
Well, that's that.
They continue to plough, two or three times a turn. The boy shouts again:
- Look, my lord, I found the chest.
They try the key, and it hits the lock. They open the box, lift the lid, see what's inside, and there's nothing in it but a mouse with a short tail.
If the mouse had a long tail, my story would have lasted longer.
All right, I'll add a little poem:
Story from, fairy tale, tale,
black bird,
gentlemanly fur, bald mouse
jump into your neck.
Fairy tale, fairy tale, fakakas,
hide in the hole and keep quiet,
Kata, Kata, two garas,
I give it to you, just listen.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian fairy tales and fables, volume 2)
