Once upon a time there was a poor man and the poor man had three sons. This poor man had only a small garden, but in this small garden grew roses so beautiful that anyone who saw them was amazed.
There were other flowers in that garden, ones whose fragrance spread for seven miles, ones that, if touched, would ring like a golden bell. But the poor man had little joy in all these beautiful, wonderful flowers, for in the night a bird of fire flew in, whose feathers and wings were as if they had been aflame, and before the poor man knew it, before his sons knew it, he plucked them off one by one, and carried them off, God knows where.
They tried everything to find a way to preserve the flowers. The poor man tried, but either he fell asleep, or if he did not fall asleep, the flaming feather of the firebird took his sight for a minute or two. He could neither shoot nor catch the bird. The same happened to the poor man's two older sons.
Then Laci tried his luck, the youngest boy. He didn't sleep for a week, but the firebird didn't come. But on the seventh night, it suddenly flew in and landed on the rose bush next to the one Laci had moved to. He covered his eyes with one hand and reached for the bird with the other, but he only had a feather left in his hand: the firebird flew away.
Well, they can't keep the roses. The men decide to go against seventeen countries, and will not rest until they find the firebird somewhere. They go, they go, they go, and on the seventh day they come to many woods, and in many woods they find a garden with flowers, and roses as beautiful as those in their garden.
The two older lads could not resist going into the garden. They went in and plucked a rose from a bush, but Laci talked in vain. Well, my lord, at that very moment the ground opened up, and a man with a seven-whiskered beard sprang out, seized the two lads, said nothing, and carried them down with him to the lower world.
Laci was left alone. He did not know what to do, where to go after his brothers. He figured they'd find a way to get away, one way or another. He went on, very sad, and as he walked, he saw a terribly high rock, and in the crevice of that rock a sword. He goes over, draws the sword, and behold, at that moment, a seven-headed dragon leaps out after the sword.
Well, Laki didn't need more. For him, the dragon, and he chops left and right, back and forth, until he has cut off all seven heads of the dragon. The dragon's blood flowed like a stream. Laci took himself, washed in the dragon's blood, and became as strong as a giant.
Then he started into the crevice of the cliff, but not two steps further, the silver bear came with a terrible growl. They looked at each other, they clashed; the bones of both of them crunched, but Laci was stronger, and he threw the bear to the ground so hard that he was licked. The bear said:
- I see you are stronger, lad, let me live, you will not regret it. Whatever you wish, I'll grant your every wish.
- "That's all I want," said Laci, "just take me to the firebird.
- Sit on my back, I'll carry you.
Laci sat on the bear's back, and the big animal roared, galloping faster than the wind, even faster than thought, and suddenly it stopped in front of a diamond palace on a duck's foot, and said to Laci:
- Go, go up to this castle, there's the firebird in a glass bowl. Now all the people in the castle are asleep, the king and his soldiers, but touch the fishbowl without touching it, for if it squeaks, the people will wake up, and you may be in great trouble.
Laci goes up to the palace and finds the glass crib. The door was open. He stuck his hand in, but he touched it a little, and the tinkle was so loud that suddenly everyone in the courtyard was on their feet. The men ran together, took Lacy, brought him before the king, and told him what the lad wanted.
- 'Well,' says the king, 'I could have your head on a spike, but I won't, and I'll even give you the firebird if you bring the Iron King's golden steed.
Laci goes out, sits on the silver bear and tells him what the owner of the firebird wants.
- 'Very well,' says the bear, 'you can easily take him, if you take my word for it. That steed always has a golden saddle on his back. So I say, don't touch the saddle, for even if they sleep like the black earth, they'll wake up, for the saddle makes such a loud noise.
Before the silver bear had even said much of this, they were already at the door of the Iron King. The lads were all asleep. Laci went into the stable, untied the steed from the manger, but as soon as he led it out, he touched the saddle, and it made such a noise that the coachmen woke up, shouted thief, seized Laci and brought him before the king. The king said:
- Well, you rogue, I could have your head on a spike, but I won't, and I order you to go straight to Fairyland and fetch the daughter of the Fairy King, who lives in the fiftieth room of the palace.
Laci gets on the back of the silver bear, they ride off to Fairyland, where he goes up to the palace of the Fairy King. He went through forty-nine rooms, and found not a soul. He went into the fiftieth room, and there on a golden horse sat the fairy queen, and as soon as she saw Lacy, she jumped up from the golden horse, and said, "I heard it like today:
- You are mine, I am yours, spade, hoe and big bell shall separate us!
Laci was both happy and sad about it. He did not dare to say a word that he would not take the fairy-royal lady for himself. The bear saw how sad Laci was, and when they came to the Iron King's palace, he said to him:
- Let's just leave the princess outside and leave the rest to me.
At that moment the silver bear shook, and became a fairy girl like the fairy queen. She went up to the palace, and Laci took the fairy-queen princess away on his golden steed. But before he reached the castle where the firebird was, the silver bear was already there. There, before the Iron King's eyes, he changed back into a bear, and slunk away like a rushing wind.
Laci was happy to have the silver bear back, but now he was sorry to see the king's golden steed. He would have liked to keep the steed and get the firebird. The silver bear had hit his thought. He was shaken and became a golden-horned steed just like the other one. The real steed stayed outside with the princess, and Laci led the silver bear steed up to the king.
Hey, the king was happy! At once he gave the bird of fire, calico and all. But the silver-bear-turned-parrot was just waiting for Laci to ride far away with the firebird. He turned back into a bear and left the king. He caught up with Lacy in the very forest where the man with the seven-toothed beard had taken his brothers to the underworld.
- Is there anything else your heart desires? - asked the bear.
- Nothing else, my sweet bear, but one thing: free my brothers.
As he said this, the silver bear gave a big thump with his foot, the ground opened up and, whoosh, he was gone. But not even an hour later, he sprang out of the ground: there on his back sat the two lads.
Now you can go home. The silver bear went with them. They didn't let go any more than they let go of their brother, they thought. The fire-bird could no longer destroy the roses, and with the precious beautiful flowers they gained a sea of treasure. Laci built such a diamond palace that the fairy king's daughter could sleep in it with a good heart.
They are still alive today, if they are not dead.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 3)
