Once upon a time, even across seven hundred and seventeen countries, there was a poor boy. When he was a little boy, his father died, his mother died, and he was left alone. He was poor, he had no one, he had nothing, and his poor head was a shepherd with the sheep.
He was a shepherd there forever, until the time came that he had to go and become a soldier. From there, he went from shepherding to soldiering.
He completed the three years, and when he came home, the poor man didn't know which way to look, he was so poor. He had nothing, not even any clothes.
There was a gentleman who had a goat with thirty head. He advertised that he needed a shepherd to guard the goats in the field during the day, milk them in the evening, morning and noon, and keep the stalls in order.
The boy was just the man for the job, so he went to serve, and began to walk with the goats in the field. Well, the boy was bright-eyed, he was clever, he had rank in the army, he took him up to platoon leader, he started to talk to the goats in a soldierly way out in the field.
He would lead the goats around and talk to them until they began to understand his speech. He led them this way and that, so that after a short time the goats got used to the words.
One day he sees a four-horse carriage coming down the road with a big gentleman in it. He drove the goats to him, waved his hand, and the gentleman stopped the horses with the cart. Says the boy:
- The reason I stopped you, sir, was to see what these goats have been doing since I became their owner.
The master listened with pleasure, and the boy called out to the goats:
- Line up!
And then the goats started to run together.
- Break into threes!
And then the goats, all thirty of them, lined up in a trio like soldiers.
Then the boy cried out:
- Watch out!
And the goats stood on two legs.
Then he shouted to the goats:
- Salute!
And then they saluted with their front feet.
Then he shouted:
- At rest!
S then:
- Dissolve!
And then they parted.
The gentleman in the carriage really liked it. He asks:
- Who owns this goat class?
- This and that of the Lord.
- Where does the gentleman live that I should go and buy them? - said the gentleman.
He liked it so much that he bought the goats, but he bought them so that the servant would go with him and live with him for a month. The boy went willingly, for he was glad to see the goats marching.
The master was also very happy, and when he got home he called all his friends together, even from foreign countries, and showed them what the boy had taught the goats.
So the rich lords came from all over, because he told them:
- Come, because I want to show you something wonderful, something you have never seen before.
When the guests were gathered, he skilfully provided them with food and drink. And when the host saw that the guests were in high spirits, he went out and told the goatherd that when they came out he would command his goats as he had seen them.
The guests came out, and the boy called to the goats:
- Line up!
Then the goats ran into each other. Then he said:
- Break into threes!
Then the goats stood up smartly. Then he called out to them:
- Salute!
Then they saluted. Then he told them:
- At ease, disperse!
Then the goats ran away.
A gentleman from a foreign country loved it so much that he asked for it to be given to him. And the gentleman gave it to him. But first the foreigner asked how much he wanted for it. And the gentleman agreed:
- Sixty thousand forints.
And the gentleman from the foreign country reached into his pocket and paid what he asked, and the host gave all the money to the servant. With that money the servant bought a nice, neat little estate, made a house, bought clothes, and lived decently like other people. He is still alive today, if he is not dead.
(Ágnes Kovács: Folk tales for kindergarten children)
