Once upon a time, across the seven seas, on the Peruvian Sea, there was a poor woodcutter. But this man was as poor as a church mouse, poorer even than that. He cut wood in the forest from dawn till dusk, but his lunch and his supper was stale bread and his intestines.
Well, once, as he was eating at the foot of a tree, from where, from where, he could not see: it was enough that an old grey man stood in front of him, and asked him for a loaf of bread in the name of God.
- "With a good heart," said the poor man, "for I see that your snake is poorer than I am," and he broke his bread in two and gave half to the old man.
- 'Now, poor man,' said the old man, 'know that I am the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the bad. You have shared your bread with me: expect good for good!
"Come," thought the woodcutter to himself, "what good can I expect from this old man?"
Meanwhile, the old man pulled an apron from his bag and said:
- I give you this straw, you poor man. If you get hungry, just say to him: spread, spread, my tablecloth! - and in a moment you'll have a table laid, and all the food and drink and good things your eyes and mouth can desire.
The poor man thanked the old man for his gift, said goodbye to him, and started on his way home. He thought to himself that even if the old man hadn't been telling the truth, the tablecloth was worth something. Well, he'll try, if only he gets hungry.
It didn't take long for him to get hungry: suddenly his stomach started to play. Just then he came to a mutt, and thought he'd go in and try the abrosta. He went in, sat down by the table, took the tablecloth, and said to him, "Spread, spread, my tablecloth!
Well, my lord, the tablecloth was suddenly laid on the table, and in that minute it was full of food and drink. There were white loaves, pork chops, pancakes with cottage cheese, stuffed cabbage, stuffed chicken, red wine, white wine, honey brandy.
The skater runs to him, claps his hands and asks:
- So where did kend find this wonder bread?
The poor man will tell you who gave it to him.
But the skater and his wife became good friends with him. They sat down at the table and ate and drank and were merry. The poor man went no further, and stayed the night. The mutt's wife made up a bed for him and waited until the poor man fell asleep.
That's all he expected. As soon as the poor man fell asleep, he stole the apron from his bag, and soon made one just like it, and exchanged it with the poor man's.
In the morning the poor man went on his way, and did not stop till he reached home. He tells his wife at home with great joy:
- Well, woman, our poverty is over, I've got an abrosta that I'll only tell him one, and there's enough food and drink in it to feed the village!
- "Oh," said the woman, "don't be naughty, perhaps you're not out of your mind!
- Well, if you don't believe me, I'll show you.
Suddenly he took the abrosta and said:
- Spread, spread, my tablecloth!
He could have said it a thousand times, but he neither moved nor spread himself, nor was there any food or drink.
- "See, see," said the woman, "what you are doing wrong! He had better go back to the woods and cut the tree. There's not a wolf in the house.
But so and so, the poor man insisted, this tablecloth has been spread before. He had no idea that his tablecloth had been exchanged at the mutt.
He went back to the woods in great sorrow, cut the wood as before, and at noon settled down under a tree, took the dry bread, and wondered if the old grey man would come.
But he came and asked her for a loaf of bread in the name of God.
- 'With a good heart, old man,' said he, 'though you have caused me great sorrow. Only once did the table-cloth spread, not more, though I said a thousand times, spread, spread, my table-cloth!
- 'Well, if it is not spread,' said the old man, 'it is not the tablecloth I gave you. It must have been exchanged. But wait, I will give you a lamb. Just say to it, dance, dance, my lamb, and the gold will fall from its fleece like a shower of rain. But be careful, lest it be stolen.
He just pulled a white woolly lamb out of his pouch, gave it to the poor man, and the grey old man disappeared as if swallowed by the earth.
The poor man did not cut much more than a twig, and set off home with great joy. But again he went into the manger, and boasted to the menders what a lamb the old man had given him.
- "Let me see," said the skater and his wife, "is it really true?
The poor man says to the lamb: dance, dance, my lamb! Well, well, well, well! - The gold fell from the fleece like a shower of rain.
- "Just take it, take it, take it," the poor man urged the skater and his wife, "I'll have money when I want it!
But the mutt-maker and his wife were not content with this, and at night, while the poor man slept, they stole the lamb and put another in its place, a lamb that had been torn.
But when the poor man came home, and said to the lamb, "Dance, dance, my lamb!" it only cried bitterly, but it did not dance.
The poor man cursed, his wife wept, and all lamented that his master was mad in his mind.
The poor man went back to the forest, but his heart was so heavy with grief that he had no sign of his work. At noon he sat down under a tree, and took bread, but he could not eat for his grief and his vexation. As soon as he was grieved, the grey old man stood before him again, but this time he asked him for no bread.
- Do you grieve so, poor man? - "They stole your lamb too, did they? Well, know that the mountebanks have stolen the lamb and the lamb. But do not grieve, I will help you once more, for you have been so kind to me. Here, I'll give you a stick. Go to the mutt, and say to the stick, "Beat, beat, my little stick! - and he shall beat them till they give him the rack and the lamb. But be careful with this stick, for it is such a stick that it will beat an Armadian soldier to death if you tell it to.
The poor man could not even thank the stick, the grey old man had disappeared. He set off at once, and did not stop until he reached the mutt.
At first he tried to say, "Give me back the lamb and the lamb," but when he saw that he could not, he said to the stick, "Hit, hit, my little stick!
Hey, Lord Jesus, don't leave me! - I'm about to become a nemulass. "Supp-Supp!" he struck the stick in the head and back, where he found the skater and his wife, until they were stretched out on the ground.
But they also gave back the abrosta and the lamb.
But the poor man was already rejoicing, only he was not out of his skin with joy. He ran home like the wind, to show his wife that he had not spoken foolishly. As he came home he called to the table-cloth, "Spread, spread, my table-cloth," and the table-cloth was spread, and there was so much food and drink that the village could not eat and drink it. Then he said to the lamb, "Dance, dance, my lamb! - And the gold fell like a shower of rain.
It was known all over the country, even beyond a lame bride, that the poor woodcutter had a wonderful tablecloth and a lamb's ewe, and people came from all over to see him, princes, counts, barons and assorted gypsy legends. Yes, even the king came. The king said to the woodcutter:
- I have heard the news of your wonder-brother and your wonder-daughter, and let me see if what they have told me is true. But take heed to your life, for if I have foolishly come here in vain, I will have your head on a stake.
Well, the poor man was not frightened. He said to the tablecloth: spread, spread, my tablecloth! - And there was so much food on the table that even the king was hungry for it, and ate as much as he could eat.
- "Now the lamb, let me see," commanded the king.
- Dance, dance, my lamb! - cried the poor man, and the lamb danced, and the gold fell, so that the king's eyes were dazzled.
- 'Very well,' said the king, 'I see that you have not fooled the people, so now I command you that by noon tomorrow, when I return home, the tablecloth and the lamb shall be in my palace.
The poor man was frightened: my God, my God, what should he do! If he disobeyed, the king would have his head on a spike.
For so you shall know, that the king envied the poor man the abroth and the lamb.
The poor man was mourning, perennial, unable to close his eyes. "He will not bring the abrosta or the lamb to the king," he thought to himself, "and if they come after him, he will tell his staff!
The next evening, indeed, the master of the court came with twelve soldiers, and ordered the poor man to go with them at once, and to bring the abroast and the lamb with him.
- "I'm coming, I'm coming," said the poor man, "just wait!
The stick did not have to say twice - supp-supp! - he struck, he hit the courtier, the soldiers where he found them. Shamefaced, they ran all the way home, and reported to the king with great enthusiasm what had happened.
Hey, the king is angry! He has scattered all the soldiers he had, and set out against the poor man. But the poor man, as soon as the king came with his army, said to the stick, "Strike, strike, my stick! - and the stick struck the king so on the head that he turned from his horse and never rose again. The evil spirit ran out of him.
Supp-supp! to the Armada, and in the twinkling of an eye the whole Armada was on the ground. But there was great rejoicing throughout the land when they heard that the wicked king was dead. At once a meeting was called, and the poor man was proclaimed king. Now that was loved by every soul.
He was a good king, and is still alive, if he is not dead.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 1)
