Once upon a time, on the Peruvian Sea, beyond seven and seven countries, there was a king and his apprentice son.
The king was thinking of marrying his son, when the king of the neighbouring country insulted him greatly, and, what could he do, he stopped his son's marriage and went to war with a terrible army. But he left his son at home as a watchman, and bound him fast to his heart that he should not marry until he came home from the war.
The king went away, and his son stayed there indeed, and ruled the country as best he could, but time passed, year after year, and his father never came home, still at war with the neighbouring king.
'He will not wait until the day of judgment,' thought the prince to himself, 'he may be an old man by the time his father gets home, and he will go to see the girls. He had gathered a great army, and went forth, that they might see in a strange land that he was not a stork. But they couldn't even reach the border of their country, the king came to meet them, I mean to say, ran, because his army was beaten badly.
The king was mad when he saw him coming to meet his son. He thought the news of his defeat had spread, and now he was coming to his aid. But he was also terribly angry when he found that the prince had no intention of doing so, but was thinking of marriage.
- "I have left you, I pray you, not to leave your home till I return," said the king.You have not obeyed me, you may go as far as you please, but you will not take my soldiers, do you hear?!
The boy had asked his father enough, that he should marry one way or another, but the king was not appeased, and took away the whole of the Armaday. Only one hunter remained with the prince. He was so loyal to the prince that he even defied the king and said:
- Sire King, I have a life, I have a death, but I will not leave the King.
They parted in great anger, and the king went home, and the prince and his faithful hunter went against seventeen countries. He grieved greatly that his father had not given him a kind word of advice, but not a week passed, and his grief was over.
They did, for they went on and on through hill and dale, through wood and field, until on the seventh day they came to the golden castle of the Golden Land, and there they found a golden flower, but such as could look at the sun, but not that. In the meantime, lest I forget, the king dwelt in the castle of gold, and the golden flower was the king's only daughter. Golden Blossom was sitting in the window when the prince came, and said to himself:
"Well, it certainly came for me, but if it came, I'll certainly go with it."
For she was beautiful, but the prince was not the kind to be put away, nor the kind to be taken: he was a sight to behold.
The boy prince goes up to the palace, and without much hesitation tells the king who he is and what he is, and that he has come with honest intentions. The king was pleased with the lad, and said.
- Very well, my son, my daughter shall be yours, spade and hoe and big bell shall separate you, if you love each other.
At the same time he called for Golden Blossom, and she said:
- I am happy to go to the prince, because I can see in his eyes that he has true love for me.
A priest was immediately summoned, the young men were sworn together, and a feast was made so that wine and brandy flowed from Hencida to Boncida, and even beyond that by a lame bride.
When the big party was over, six beautiful horses were put into a lovely diamond carriage, the young people got into it and set off for the prince's home. That evening they arrived in the prince's country and stayed at an inn. The young couple went to bed at once, but the prince's hunter stayed outside in the inn's courtyard, keeping his eyes open lest something should happen to his master. It was about midnight when the hunter heard three crows flying over the roof of the house, and there they began to talk.
Says the first crow:
- Well, did you hear, such a beautiful couple of people have never slept in this inn. Pity, pity, pity, that their poor heads should perish so young!
Says the second:
- How could they not perish when tomorrow the golden bridge falls beneath them.
Says the third crow:
- Woe, the prince's father must have an evil soul! I heard that the king had the bridge-leg sawed in. Pity, pity, pity! But hey, do you hear, he that betrays this our conversation, shall be turned into a knee-deep in salt, whether he be beast or man.
- "I don't mind changing, but I'll tell you," said the hunter, in a loud voice, so that the crows could hear him.
- "Pity! pity! pity!" the crows cawed, and flew off the roof of the house.
But they couldn't fly even a good flight away, three pigeons flew up to the roof of the house, and lo and behold, they started talking too.
Says the first:
- Hey, poor young couple! They may have died at the bridge, but they must perish.
- 'Away,' said the second, 'for the king will send a bewitched carriage to meet them.
- "If only they wouldn't sit in it," said the third, "because if they do, a terrible whirlwind will come up, and they'll be swept up into the sky, swinging, swinging, swinging, swinging, and they'll fall to the ground, and their seventy-seventh particle will be broken to dust! But let no one betray this conversation of ours, for it will suddenly turn into a waist-deep salt pan.
- "I don't mind telling you," said the hunter, with a loud voice, so that the pigeons could hear him.
They continued to fly from the roof of the house in great fright.
But look at that! As the pigeons flew away, three eagles flew to the roof of the house. And they were discoursing.
Says the first one:
- The bridge and the carriage might save this young couple, but after that, I don't know what will happen to them.
- "Neither do I," said the second eagle, "for I hear in the town that the King is sending a pair of robes of gold and silver to his son and daughter-in-law, to be worn at once.
- "They'd be somehow scared," said the third, "that as soon as they put on the robe, it would burn them to ashes. But we cannot tell, and someone betrays our conversation by saying that he turns into a salt-whale in his sea of sea-clothes.
- 'I don't mind whatever happens to me,' said the hunter, in a loud voice, 'but I will not let my master perish!
In the morning, as they were setting out, the hunter called to the prince and said:
- Last night I dreamed a dream, sire, that if you do not listen to me, they will surely perish. I charge you, sire, always do as I bid you, till we come home, and repent it not.
The prince and his wife laughed, "O fool, thou fool, thou sleepy and rainy weather!"
- Rain or shine, listen to me, sire prince! - said the hunter.
He left the prince in peace until he promised to do everything as he said.
So they set off and arrive at the golden bridge. Says the hunter:
- Let's leave this carriage here!
- How could you leave this? - asked the prince.
- This is done without a single nail in this carriage: it breaks on the bridge. It is a shame for a prince to carry his wife in such a carriage.
They got down from the carriage, looked around, examined it, even the prince hid under the axle, and even his wife after him, but even the wheel rims shone, for they were also of solid gold.
- 'Hm,' said the prince, 'I see nothing wrong with this carriage, but I gave my word that I would listen to you, so let us leave it. - So they left the carriage, and walked across the bridge, and the hunter and his horses swam across the water. They walked into the town, took a carriage and went on their way.
They were not even beyond the city limits, so the foreman came to them in a beautiful golden carriage, and told the prince that his majesty's father had sent the carriage, fit for him.
Even the wheel studs were gold, but the hunter pretended to examine them inside and out, and said to the prince:
- Sire, don't sit in this carriage, for it is as gaudy as it is bad!
And to prevent them from sitting on him, he drew his sword and cut the precious gold sword into pieces.
The prince was just shaking his head, just humming, but what to do? He gave his word that he would obey.
They got back into the carriage they had bought, and so arrived at the border of the king's city. There was an envoy waiting for him, with a robe for a princess on one arm, and a robe for his wife on the other. Both shone with gold and silver.
The prince was mad, but his wife even more so, and at once they were about to take up the precious robe, but the hunter snatched the stone from his hand and tore both robes to pieces.
- Why would you do that?! - said the prince in peace.
- I did this because I wasn't even fit to be a footman, let alone a princess.
- "But so and so," said the prince, and was very angry with the hunter. And his wife wept in anger that it was not the prince who commanded, but his servant.
Meanwhile, the old king was not overcome with revenge that he could not destroy his son, who had dared to defy him. But he pretended to be very glad when his son and his daughter-in-law came. But he was not at rest till he knew by what wondrous means they had thrice escaped the deadly peril.
He said to his son:
- Well, my dear boy, I didn't think you'd buy your father's present. I'm the best I ever had.
- 'I'm sorry, father,' said the prince, 'we liked everything, but I promised my hunter that I would listen to him on the road, and that foolish lad didn't like the carriage or the cloak! He said we'd all perish if we didn't listen to him.
"Now, stop, you hunter," thought the king to himself, "you're going to make it bitter!" - Besides, he was terribly angry with him for being more attracted to his son, and went with him to see the maidens.
At once he summoned the judges of the law, and they put the hunter's head to death. The next day at dawn they dug a gallows in the middle of the courtyard and placed the hunter under it. They read out his sentence from a large sheet of paper, and what he had done to deserve the gallows.
- "Very well," said the hunter, "I don't mind dying, but I have saved my master's life!
And he told what he had heard from the crows.
Well, in the blink of an eye, he turned into a knee-high salt shaker.
He went on to tell what he had heard from the pigeons, and in that instant he had turned into a salt whale up to his waist.
He went on to tell what he had heard from the eagles, and so - Lord Jesus, don't forsake me - he became a snow leopard in his sea of sea.
The prince mourned, he could not find his place in his great sorrow. My God, my God, that his faithful hunter should come to such a sad end on account of him, when he had just saved his life! He resolved to go away into the world, and not to return till he had found a way to turn that salt idol back into a spirited human beast.
He told his wife that evening:
- I must go, woman, because the hunter is dead because of us!
His wife pleaded with him enough to stay, not to go off in his folly, but he could not dissuade her. An old woman, who was the prince's nurse, heard this, and said:
- Do not go away, my soul, my child, stay with your wife.
But you could talk to him, he said:
- One life, one death, I will not let my hunter be a salt!
- 'Well, if you are so determined,' said the old woman, 'go and see Fortune's Fortune, who, if she can help you, is the only one in the world.
He bade his wife farewell with bitter tears, and went out into the world. For seven days and seven nights he went on and on, Meeting many a man, leaving many a one, But no soul could tell where Fortune's Fortune dwelt.
One night he spent the night at a mill, and went to the miller to ask him for lodging.
- "God has the lodging," said the miller, and gave him supper and lodging. At supper the prince told him who and what he was, and what he was about. Says the miller:
- Hey, sire, if you find Fortune's Fortune, ask her why my mill runs on seven stones, has a post-holder and a digger, and yet I cannot get on.
The prince promised to ask, just to invent the Fortune of Fortune.
He went on in the morning, and by evening he came to a village, but all was quiet, and he saw only a candle-light in a small house. He went there, and there were three girls sitting before the furnace, and they were making a great deal of light. And when they heard what he was doing, they told him to ask Lady Luck why they were not married, though they spun a guzsaly drop every night.
The prince promised to ask if he could find him.
Onward went the prince in the morning, through hills and valleys, and came to a great forest. For three days and three nights he wandered in the wilderness, and when it began to thin and open up a little, a brook wound its way to his head, and he stopped in its course and called to it:
- Where do you go where no bird goes? Since the world became the world, no man has been here.
Tell the prince what you are doing here:
- 'Well, my lord,' said the brook, 'ask Fortune of Fortune why I have neither fish nor crabs, and my water is as clear as crystal.
- 'Very well,' said the prince, 'I will ask you if you will open in two directions, and I will pass you with dry feet.
Suddenly the brook opened in two, and the prince walked across it with dry feet.
- "Don't be sad," said the prince, "I'll just find Fortune's Fortune, and ask her what you asked for!
He came out of the woods and continued his journey through a beautiful valley with flowers. It had no edge and no length. He went on, and came to a little house in the evening. He went in to ask for lodging.
There was an old woman sitting under the bush, but she was so old that her nose was beating the ground. She greeted him properly:
- Good evening, old mother!
- God help me, my son! What good are you here in our land?
The prince says he is looking for Fortune's Fortune.
- Well, if you're looking for her, you've come to the right place, because I'm her mother.
Hey, the prince was mad, and he told her what he wanted from her.
The old woman said:
- Very well, my dear boy, but my daughter is out in the vineyard, and will not come home to-night. Go out to her in the morning, take a hoe with you, and say nothing to her, but stand by her and hoe yourself. But remember, even if he asks you a question, don't answer him till twelve noon. At noon I will bring you lunch, and when he sits down to lunch, you sit down and eat with him. After lunch, he will ask you what is the matter, and then tell him, and he will help him.
The prince thanked her for the good advice, and went out to the vineyard in the morning. He did as the old woman said. He stood beside Fortune's Fortune and said nothing, just hoed faithfully. At noon, the old woman came out with her lunch, they sat down and ate. After lunch, Lady Luck's Luck spoke:
- Well, I've seen a lot of people, but never like you. Art thou dumb, that thou hast not spoken till now?
- 'I am not dumb,' said the prince, 'but I have great sorrow in my heart.
And he told me what sorrow was in his heart.
- 'Don't be sad,' said Fortune to Fortune, 'I'll help you, for you deserve it, and so does your hunter! Just go home in peace. When you get home, your wife will have a little son, and from his little finger you shall put three drops of blood into a brandy cup, and with that blood you shall anoint the salted man's knees, his waist, and his forehead: and he shall be as he was.
- O that God would bless and sanctify you! - the prince gave thanks, and was about to start home with great joy.
Yes, but he remembered that he had three more things to ask Lucky Lucky.
- If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you three more things!
- Just ask, said Fortune to Fortune, and I'll answer if I can!
- Not far from here, in the woods, there is a stream. What's the reason there's never been a crab or a fish in it?
- 'Because no one has ever died of it,' said Fortune to Fortune. - Tell him no more of this until you have passed through it, and then only when you have climbed to the top of the tallest tree, or else you are the son of death.
- What is the reason why there are three beautiful girls in this village, all three of them hard-working, and yet they do not marry?
- Because the trash is thrown in the face of the sun.
- "I do not understand," said the prince, "how can this be?
- They get up late and the sun is already up when they sweep out their house.
- Well, one more! What is the reason why the miller here and there can't make a go of it, even though he has a seven-stone mill, a post-press and a porringer?
- For the miller will not go to church, and will not give to the poor in the name of God. He gave you lodging only because he saw that you were rich and hoped for something from you.
The prince thanked her for her answers, said goodbye, and went back the way he had come.
First he came to the stream.
- Well, what did Lucky Lucky say? - asked the brook.
- Let me go, and I'll tell you.
The brook opened in two directions, and the prince suddenly climbed up to the highest tree, and into the roof of the tree. There he shouted down what Fortune had said to Fortune.
Hey, look at that! Then the brook, as soon as it hears this, begins to swell and grow, higher and higher, until it has washed the waist of the tree on which the prince was sniggering. But in vain he pezderked (sword-wielding, angrily indignant - ed.), but the prince's feet only came up to the stems, and he retreated angrily back into the stream.
The prince came down from the tree and went on his way in peace.
On the way he spoke to the girls and the miller, and told them what he had heard.
The girls took their word, stopped throwing rubbish in the sun, and all three were lucky. The miller also went faithfully to the church, gave to the poor, and grew visibly wealthy. Soon there were fish and crabs in the brook, for a horse-roper tried to cross it with his stolen horse, and the brook suddenly overflowed and the horse-roper drowned.
Now all that was left was his faithful hunter. He asked God to give him a son when he got home.
There was, but what a beautiful golden-haired boy! His heart ached, but God help him, suddenly he pricked his son's little finger with his penecélus (thin knife - ed.), the three drops of blood gushed out, and with that he ran to the salt idol, anointed his knees, his waist, his forehead - and suddenly his faithful hunter came to life.
The old king was smoking his pipe at the window, and when he saw the hunter come to life, he was so frightened that the pipe fell out of his mouth and broke into pieces; and he was even more frightened, and fell on his back, and did not even say, "Hello, world!" Well, if so, he was buried with great pomp, and there was his son in his place. Everybody liked that, because he was a fine man.
He is still alive today, if he is not dead.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 1)
