Once upon a time, far to the east, there was a famous, powerful prince. I know you've heard his fame, his name: His name was Nimrod. This Nimrod lived many thousands of years before that, but his fame has endured. For Nimrod was the father of Hunor and Magyar, those two fine warriors of Dal, whose descendants are the Huns and Hungarians.
Do you know what Prince Nimrod was famous for? That at that time, and even before that time, and even after that time, there was no son of man who understood and loved hunting as he did. So I heard from my grandfather, and my grandfather from his grandfather.
In the morning, when he had risen and put all the things of his country in order, he threw his arrow around his neck, mounted his steed, galloped like the wind, and even more swiftly, through hill and dale, through ditch and bush, and shot the flying bird from horseback. On which bird he had put his arrow, no more sang, no more flew.
Nimrod liked to hunt alone, but when his sons were a little older, he took them with him. Especially the two older ones: Hunor and Magyar, were always at his side, trying to shoot the birds in flight.
Oh, was Nimrod glad when he saw that his father was the son of both Hunor and Magyar. Very seldom if they missed a bird, and Nimrod said to himself more than once: these boys will be even better hunters when they grow up to be men.
Old Nimrod was glad: let his sons be different from him. Let their fame go beyond seven and seven countries.
Time passed, and Hunor and Magyar grew up to be great, strong lads, fine braves, so that Nimrod, when he looked at them, laughed with great joy in his heart.
Nimrod thought to himself, "now I can let these boys fly on their own wings". Let them live in their own tents, go hunting when they like, and go where their hearts desire. So he told his sons:
- My dear children, I am an old man now, I cannot always take you hunting, when it pleases you, live in separate tents from now on. I'll give you so much land, so much forest, so many horses, oxen and all kinds of livestock that you can live without worry, and when I close my eyes, the country will be yours: share its land and its care among yourselves in an honest way.
The next day the boys thanked their father's great goodwill, and the next day they moved out of their parents' tent, and pitched two tents on the top of a beautiful gentle hill, not far from each other, and there they and their servants settled.
At first, they only went hunting not far from the tent, but later they wandered further and further away. But they always came home in the evening, and then they would call their father and tell him where they had been, how many game they had shot, how many they had missed. But one evening, as they were sitting around the blazing fire, Hunor spoke up and said to his brother:
- You, Hungarian, I'll tell you one thing, there will be two.
- Tell me, brother Hunor, I am glad to hear it, for I have heard nothing but good things from you.
- What I have to say, Hungarian brother, is that tomorrow morning we'll set off on a longer journey. Let us see what is beyond the borders of our country! Maybe there's more game there? Are the rivers bigger and the fish more plentiful? Let's go and see!
- "I've been thinking about it for a long time," said Magyar, "but I was afraid* (ashamed, reluctant - ed.) to say it. Here we know every bush, every corner of the forest, every corner of the field, perhaps we even know how many buffaloes, bears, deer, eagles, falcons and other birds there are in our forests.
- Well, we can easily count that, because the game is dwindling fast. What is true is true: our father shot a lot of game, and even we did.
They agreed to leave at dinnertime, heading west. They will take fifty or fifty of their strongest and bravest men with them, and they will not return until the snow has fallen.
At dandelion time they set out, and on the way, hunting, they went on, going on and on. Where the night surprised them, there they lodged and slept, and in the morning they went on again.
They were long past the border of their country, and the further they went, the more they liked the forest and the meadow. It is not surprising,* their way led them through endless vast plains, and in between they came to many woods full of game.
Hey, they needed this! Now there was something to hunt for. They would have liked their father to be here now, to see what a sea of game there was. He'd surely be in the mood to hunt again. They'd had enough, there was so much game. Bull buffaloes, deer and roe deer grazed in the clearings, and they didn't bother him. It was better if they could hunt one game at a time. After that, they'd stampede from dawn till dusk.
But then one day they saw a game like never before. It was a deer as beautiful as no human eye had ever seen. Its two branchy horns were intertwined, and floated above its head like a wreath. Its two eyes were black and shining like black diamonds. Her waist was slender and flexible like a swaying reed, her legs were thin, and when she ran she did not seem to touch the ground.
- Look, my brother, Magyar, a beautiful deer! - cried Hunor.
- "Beautiful, beautiful!" cried Magyar, "I have never seen anything like it.
- After him!
The beautiful stag ran like a rushing gale, followed by Hunor and Magyar, and with them a hundred folk from the countryside. From clearing to thicket, from thicket to clearing, Up hills and across waters. Sometimes the beautiful stag disappeared, sometimes it appeared, luring Hunor and Magyar.
The horses of the braves became a froth*, their gallop became slower and slower, but Hunor and Magyar did not give up the chase. They assured their horses: run, run, my sweet horse!
They hunted the beautiful deer from dawn to dusk. They wanted to catch it alive to take home to their father. For they had not forgotten the good father in a strange land... But in vain. The sun set, dusk fell, and the beautiful deer disappeared in the marshy place, hidden in the thick reeds. They could not follow him here: there they would all perish. Surely the beautiful stag was lost there too.
But even if they couldn't touch the beautiful deer, it led them to a land as beautiful as they had ever seen. It was a beautiful island, with forests and rivers all around as far as the eye could see. They waded through the grass and flowers. Large trees gave splendid fruit and slight shade. Thousands of fish, large and small, swam on the waters, playing in the sun's rays.
- I want to stay here forever! - said Hunor with a trembling heart. - And you, my Hungarian brother?
- Me too, brother, me too!
- But what will our father say?
- That's true. We'll go back tomorrow and ask for your advice.
The next day they did indeed pack up and head back to their father's country. On their return they took only as much game as they needed for lunch and dinner. Their journey lasted seven days and seven nights. Only now did they see how far they had strayed from home. Old Nimrod was lying in his tent when they entered. He was sad, very sad. He asked in a weak voice:
- Where have you been? Twice seven days and nights since I saw you. And yet I feel that I shall not live long.
Hunor said:
- Forgive me, dear father, our love of the hunt has carried us far. But see, we have come back to tell you that we have found a beautiful, very beautiful country, where we both have a great desire to settle.
- And don't you want my country? - Nimrod asked sorrowfully.
- 'Father,' said Magyar, 'you have other sons besides us, and let this country be theirs. Give us your blessing, and release your two eldest sons.
Nimrod's eyes filled with tears, and he spoke in a trembling voice:
- Come, then, kneel before me, and let me lay my trembling hands on your heads.
The boys knelt down, and the old man blessed them.
- Go, God guide you! May blessings and good fortune accompany you wherever you go!
Nimrod said this, and kissed Hunor and Magyar on the forehead. Once more he rested his eyes upon them, then closed his eyes, and in the arms of Hunor and Magyar he breathed his noble soul.
Nimrod died, his sons buried him with great pomp. After the funeral, Hunor and Magyar set out, and leaving the country to their brothers, they went on their way to that beautiful island.
The journey lasted seven days and seven nights, and when they arrived they fell down on the ground and gave thanks to God, blessing the miraculous deer that had lured them to this beautiful land.
They had been on the beautiful island for several days, and were surprised to see no other people except your people. Hunor said:
- Dude, let's look around and see if we can find some enthusiastic animals*!
- All right, brother, let's go.
They set out with the hundred warriors, and for a long time they wandered and skirmished about the great wilderness.
Well, what do you see! Their eyes were wide with amazement. A large group of girls, each more beautiful than the next, danced in a circle at the foot of a gushing spring. They clustered together, they must have been a hundred, if not more, and circled in a circle, and in the middle two girls were drooping, but so beautiful were they both that you could look at the sun but not at them.
Hunor és Magyar összenéztek, a többi vitézek sem különben; nem szóltak semmit, de azért tudták, hogy egyet gondolnak mind. Egyszeribe közrefogták a táncoló leányokat, ki-ki egy leányt fölkapott a nyergébe, s azzal – uzsgyi neki, vesd el magad! – elvágtattak sebes szélnél sebesebben.
Hunor és Magyar azt a két leányt kapták föl a nyergükbe, akik a kör közepén táncoltak. Mikor a sátrukhoz értek, ott szép gyöngén leemelték a leányokat a nyeregből, és bevitték a sátrukba.
Aközben magukhoz tértek a leányok is. Reszkettek a félelemtől, de Hunor és Magyar olyan szép szavakkal engesztelték, vigasztalták, hogy lassankint nekibátorodtak, s nem is bánták, hogy elrabolta őket ez a két deli szép fiú. De a többi leány sem bánta.
Hunor és Magyar csak most tudták meg, hogy az a két leány, akit ők elraboltak: az alánok fejedelmének, Dulnak a leánya. Annál jobb! Fejedelmi vérből való feleségük lesz hát. De a leányok is örültek, mikor megtudták, hogy a világhíres Nimród fiai veszik őket feleségül.
Mondta Hunor az ő párjának:
– Te az enyém, én a tied, ásó, kapa válasszon el minket!
Mondta Magyar is az ő választottjának:
– Te az enyém, én a tied, ásó, kapa válasszon el minket!
Visszamondták a lányok is ezt szóról szóra.
Ez volt az ő esküjök.
Még aznap nagy lakodalmat laktak. Egyszerre volt a lakodalma Hunornak és Magyarnak s száz vitézüknek.
Az Isten megáldotta frigyüket, s szaporodtak ivadékról ivadékra. Idők múltán már nem volt elég a szép sziget Hunor és Magyar nemzetségének.
Tovább kellett vándorolniok.
Új hazát, nagyobbat kellett keresniök, annyira elszaporodtak hunok és magyarok.
Merre mentek, hová jutottak, elmondom nektek később.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 1)
