Once upon a time, beyond the Peruvian Sea, beyond the glass mountains where the little pig with the short tail roams, there was a poor widow, and her son was named Palko. They lived in great poverty: sometimes they had food, sometimes they didn't. They had nothing but a house with a tumbledown wall and a garden.
Palko once says to his mother:
- Mother, I'm not hungry at home any more, I'm going out to serve, I won't come home until I've served at least one calf. It will grow up in our garden, and God willing, we will have at least a small farm.
Palko goes into service, stays there for a year, serves a calf. Then he goes to work again, and serves another calf. The third year he served a calf, and the fourth year he served a calf. He had four calves, but the garden was small, there was little hay in it, and there was nothing to keep the calves.
He is, he thinks to himself, driving the calves to the fair and selling them. He sets off with the four calves, but as he is going along the road, an old grey man comes up to him and says:
- Lad, I've got a nice solo flute, I'll give it to you if you give me a calf for it.
- What do you think, brother, I can't give you a tip for a flute.
- Just give it to me, don't be afraid, it's not just any flute. You'll see how much use it'll be to you.
God help him, Palko thinks to himself, and gives him a tip for the flute. With that he goes on his way. But he couldn't have gone even a rifle shot further, that grey old man came up to him again and said:
- Lad, give me another tip, and look, I'll give you this mouse for it.
Palko laughs a big laugh:
- Well, how would I give a mouse for a calf, my brother? There are mice enough at home, my mother is always annoyed about them.
- Okay, okay, but this is not a mouse like the others.
The old man keeps talking until Palko gives the mouse a tip. Now he was walking towards the town with two calves, but whether or not they fell from the sky or came out of the ground, the grey old man stood in front of him and told him:
- Boy, I've got a runner, this is the only one. I'll give it to you if you give me a calf.
- "I won't give it to you," said Palko, "I'm not crazy! I was foolish enough to give away two calves for a flute and a mouse.
- I say to you, give me a calf for this runner, for he will be of great use to you.
What Palko thought, what Palko didn't think, he gave the third tip. He went with the one calf, drove mournfully towards the town, always wanting to turn back, if only he could meet the old man, because he regretted the fair.
Well, he didn't have to turn back. For as he walked along, mournfully, he wondered to himself, the grey old man would come up and say to him:
- Do you hear, my son? Give me this wine too, I'll give you a bag for it.
- "I won't give it," said Palko, "though I wouldn't have given the rest! I don't know how I'll ever get in my mother's eyes.
- Just give me the wine! Don't worry about anything. It's not just any bag. Know that in this bag is a dream. All you have to do is tell it how many hours you want to sleep, and that's how long you'll sleep, and if you want to put someone else to sleep, you can put them to sleep too, just tell the bag.
Palko thinks: "If that's the case, why should I go to the fair with a calf. Let the old man have the fourth calf."
When he gave the fourth calf to the old man, he said:
- Now, son, go home. You won't be able to stay at home, your mother will beat you until someone frees you from her hands. But when you are free, run as far as your eyes can see, and cry back to your mother, 'God bless you, my mother, I shall not come back till I am king!
After all, there was a nemulass at home when Palko came home. His mother asked:
- Have you sold the calves, my son?
- Away, my mother, away.
- Where is the money?
- I didn't give it for money, Mother, I gave it for these.
And from his bag he drew the flute, the mouse, the runner, and the dream-bag. Oh, my goodness, the widow is angry! She took a stick, and struck Palko where she found him, and if the neighbour woman had not run by and delivered him out of her hands, I say she would have beaten him to death.
Palko ran as far as he could see, but shouted back to his mother:
- God bless you, my mother! I will not return until I am king!
In that city lived the king. This king had a beautiful daughter, but this daughter was very ill.
His heart was so heavy with grief that no one could make him laugh, and no sleep came to his eyes night or day. The king had just then proclaimed throughout the land that he would give his daughter and all his kingdom to the man who could make his daughter laugh, and give her such medicine that when her due time came she could sleep.
But all sorts of princes, counts, barons, long-skirted Tots, assorted gypsy legends came, all trying their luck. But they could neither make the princess laugh nor put her to sleep.
Palko also goes to the king's court and reports that he is trying his luck. Let the princess sit on the porch of the palace and show him something in the courtyard. The princess sits on the porch, the king sits on the porch, his wife sits on the porch, and all the court is gathered around to see what the poor lad can do.
Then Palko took the mouse and the runner's beetle out of his bag and put them on the ground. Then he began to blow his flute, and, lo and behold, the mouse caught the runner by the waist, and they danced the Hungarian dance, and the courtyard was so dusty.
But my goodness, the princess laughed so hard that her laughter made the palace ring. The king laughed, his wife laughed, the court laughed.
- 'Well, my son,' said the king, 'you have made my daughter ill, now just put her to sleep.
Said Palko:
- Just take the princess to her room, my lord, and put her to bed, and you will see that she will soon be asleep.
When the princess was put to bed, Palko put his head in the bag and said to the bag:
- May the princess sleep until eight o'clock tomorrow morning!
At that moment, the princess's eyes snapped shut, and she slept soundly until eight o'clock the next morning. In the meantime Palko was dressed in his precious crimson-red gown. A priest was summoned, and as soon as the princess woke up, they married her and had a feast. For seven days and seven nights the gypsies pulled and the lads and lasses walked.
After the wedding, Palko went after his mother and brought her to the palace in a six-horse carriage. He no longer had to worry about Sora. They are still alive today, if they are not dead.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 2)
