Once upon a time, across seven and seven countries, even beyond the mountains of glass, there was a king and his three daughters. The king did not love his daughters, and once in his great anger he found himself saying:
- If only the devil would take these girls away!
He had hardly said it: the earth opened, and three devils sprang up at once, and seized the three princesses, and there was a great tumult, and they ran away with them, and were never seen again.
Yet the king repented, mourned and grieved, but was soon comforted, for God soon blessed him with three sons. The sons were already great men, but they had never heard that they had a brother.
Meanwhile, the king was getting very old, and was always sighing:
- Hey, if I could be young again!
The boys heard this and agreed to go to the fairies' well and bring their father rejuvenating water.
They tell him what they want, and the old king, whose name, it must be said, was the Green King, agrees good-heartedly to go.
The three princes set off on three golden horses. When evening came, they entered an inn and ordered food and drink; they ate and drank, and the two older ones in particular were in such a flowery mood that they did not want to leave the inn.
The little green prince calls enough to his brothers to go, for they will never reach the well of the fairies until the world and two days, but the older princes did not move, they told their brother:
- Just hurry, you fool! We'll get there, and if we don't, we'll get there anyway!
Well, the little prince left his brothers in the convent, and that very day he came to a lot of woods. He found a little house in a lot of woods and went there to stay the night. In the little house lived an old hermit.
The prince greets him properly, the hermit greets him, and asks him what he is doing here.
The prince says he is on his way to the fairies' well: for rejuvenating water.
- 'Hey,' says the old hermit, 'I'd like some of that water, and if you ever get back, bring me a drop. But don't ride your horse in vain, for you'll never get there on it. I have a horse of many colours, brother to the devil's horse; ride on it: it will take you to the ends of the earth.
The prince thanks the old recluse for his kindness, mounts the coloured horse, and before they have even left the forest, the horse starts to sound:
- Do you hear, little master, while we are going to the well of the fairies, you will have to travel many miles. Before thou wast yet in the world, thy father had three daughters, and all three were taken away by the devils. First we must free them, and so we will go to the well of the fairies.
First we'll go to your eldest aunt. Your brother-in-law will not be at home, but I will chase him home, and when he hears that you are going to the fairies' well, he will ask you to bring him some of the rejuvenating water, but you must not promise until he gives you the sheet that is on his bed. This sheet has such a property that if you lay it on yourself, neither devil nor man will see you.
As he said this, the coloured horse blew a loud whistle, and like an arrow it flew up into the high air. He flew like a thought over forests, fields and seas.
Then suddenly he landed on the ground and stopped in front of a diamond palace on a duck's foot.
- Here lives your eldest aunt, my little master. You go in, and I'll go out to the silk cottage, your devil brother-in-law is out there somewhere, and I'll chase him home.
The prince enters the palace, the coloured horse goes out on the silk floor, sees the devil there and starts to chase him.
- Home, devil, home! There's your brother-in-law, give him dinner!
- 'Hey, dog eat your liver,' said the devil to the horse, 'you are our murdering executioner!
But not daring to resist, he ran ahead of the horse, straight up to the palace.
The prince was sitting on a horse, talking to his aunt, when the devil entered. The devil greets him:
- Hello, brother-in-law! What are you up to?
- "I'm going to the fairies' well, brother-in-law," says the prince, "to bring my father rejuvenating water.
- 'Hey, brother-in-law,' says the devil, 'I tried that, not once, but a hundred times, but I couldn't even get near the well, because seventy-seven miles from the well it's so hot that anyone who passes by becomes a pumpkin.
- I don't mind, I'm going there anyway.
Meanwhile, the devil is putting food and drink on the table, offering the prince:
- Eat-drink, brother-in-law, you won't be eating-drinking for long.
Said the prince:
- Don't be afraid of that, brother-in-law!
They eat and drink, they are happy, and after a while the devil speaks:
- When you get to the fairies' well, brother-in-law, bring me some of its water! Here, here's a pig, fill it up. Then I'll give you as much gold and silver as you can carry.
- I don't need your gold or your silver, I have enough; give me your bedspread.
Enough of the devil, to wish for anything but this and that, but the prince said:
- Do you need rejuvenating water?
- I need it, brother-in-law, I need it!
- Well, give me the blanket if you need it!
The devil had no choice but to give him the blanket, and the prince said goodbye, mounted on his head, and flew on: over forests, fields, and seas.
Once upon a time the brightly coloured horse will sound:
- Well, my dear master, we're about to land next to the palace where your middle aunt lives. This brother-in-law of yours will wish you to bring him some of the rejuvenating water, but don't promise until he gives you the ring from his finger. This ring has the property that no matter how deeply you sleep, it will squeeze your finger and wake you up when you need it.
The coloured horse lands on the ground, next to a diamond palace on a duck's foot. The prince goes in, and the horse goes out into the meadow to chase the devil home, for he was lurking in the meadow. He finds the devil, and takes him to his chaser.
- Home, devil, home, for your brother-in-law is here!
The devil knew the horse at once, saw that it was the brother of his horse, and spoke back angrily:
- I'm coming, I'm coming, the dog can eat your liver! You're our murdering executioner!
The devil goes up to the palace, receives his brother-in-law with great friendship; he puts three acos (about 50 litres - editor) of wine on the table, and all kinds of good food. They eat and drink, and he asks:
- What's your deal, brother-in-law?
Tell the prince what he's up to.
The devil is laughing.
- Hey, brother-in-law, I'm worth a hundred times more than you, yet I couldn't get the rejuvenating water, though I tried many times.
- 'You have tried or you have not tried,' said the prince, 'I will try, and I will bring, you shall see.
- Well, bring me some, and I'll give you as much treasure as you can carry.
- I don't want your treasure, give me your ring.
- I won't give you that!
- Well, if not, I won't even bring water.
With that the prince sprang up and went, but when he came to the door, the devil ran after him and gave him the ring.
As he sits on the back of his head, he says to the prince:
- Well, my dear master, we are only going to your youngest aunt. Her lord hath a sword so great that it is but to say, "Sword, out of the scabbard!" and if thou be surrounded by foes as many as the grass of the meadow and the star of the sky, thou needst not fear, for he will cut them all down to the quick.
They arrive at his youngest aunt's house, and the prince receives the sword, just as he received the blanket and the ring, and they set off for the fairies' well.
Up into the air-sky the brightness flies, Seven days and seven nights it flew, like a thought, even more swiftly. Then he came down to earth, and stood before a palace such as no human eye had ever seen. Its foundation was of silver, its sides of gold, its roof of diamonds. It had nine hundred and ninety-nine windows, all of gold, all of diamond. And just as many garadicas (basement stairs - editor), also in gold.
The coloured one said:
- Get up here, sweet master! Here lives the queen of the fairies. She's at dinner, alone, by herself. Take your blanket, sit down beside her, and eat your supper. Don't be afraid, she can't see you, she can only see that someone is eating and drinking, but she doesn't know who. Then go to bed, and at dawn, when the ring is on your finger, put on your cloak quickly, and come down to my house to draw water from the well.
The boy prince goes up to the fairy queen's palace, and the queen is indeed at dinner. The prince sits down beside her and eats and drinks from the many expensive dishes and drinks, but the queen only sees that the food and drink is all gone, she sees no one.
Oh, my goodness, the fairy queen is frightened, running through seventy-seven rooms, charming the fairies:
- On your feet, on your feet! Run to the well, blow the lead, let it burn, because someone is avoiding the well.
But my creator God, there has been a terrible great fire around the well of the fairies! The heat was so hot that seventy-seven miles from the well, man, beast, everything was roasted.
Meanwhile, the prince was sleeping quietly, but suddenly the ring started to squeeze, he jumped out of bed, ran to his horse and jumped on its back.
Says the horse:
- Do you see that fiery river, my sweet master? Beyond it is the fairies' well. As many fairies as there are, all blowing lead. Hold on to me tight, for if you turn your back on me, you will die a horrible death. I will fly with you so high that your head will beat the stars, the warmth of the lead will not reach there. Then I'll descend suddenly above the well. Thou shalt thrust the gourd thy brother-in-law gave thee on the point of thy sword, and before my foot reaches the well, thou shalt suddenly dip the gourd, for if my foot reaches it first, thy life is ended, and mine also is ended.
Up into the air the horse soars, so high that the prince's head beat the stars, then he leaps one, leaps two, and like a thought, lands at the fairies' well.
Blessed luck the prince, before the horse's foot touched the well, plunged the pumpkin, and with that the horse sped off, up into the air again.
The fairies could shout, threaten, and in a moment he was gone from their sight as if he had never been there.
They went straight to the prince's youngest aunt, and there the prince took the blanket, but his brother-in-law did not see him, and took his aunt away. In the same way he took the middle aunt; in the same way he took the eldest aunt. He took all three on his horse, and so they went to the old hermit.
The hermit shouted from afar:
- Well, my boy, have you brought rejuvenating water?!
- I brought it, old man, I brought it!
- Well, just drop a drop on my palm.
The prince fell, and, my lord, at that moment the hermit was rejuvenated.
- Well, my boy, thank you for rejuvenating me. Keep the coloured horse, let him be yours, he's got a brother to serve me.
The prince thanked the horse, said goodbye to the hermit, and before the day was out, he was at home with his aunts. His brothers were already home, and the old king thought his youngest son had died somewhere. But then there was great joy when they all came home. And when the prince's son dripped the rejuvenating water on his father's hand, the king was truly happy.
He could hardly stamp and stamp, and behold, he was suddenly so young, that he was even more beautiful and stronger than he had been in his youth. But what had happened in the meantime? Meanwhile it came to pass that the Queen of the Fairies had no rest, and she set out from Fairyland with her fairies to seek the prince - for she knew well that she could be no other prince than the prince - who had drawn from the well of the fairies. The fairy queen arrives in the land of the green king, and tells him in advance that the prince who has drawn from the well of the fairies is to meet her and take her as his wife.
But the two older princes were now wondering why they were not at the fairies' well.
The queen comes to the king's court, fills a large tub with lead, stirs it, and exclaims:
- Whoever has drawn from the well of the fairies, let him jump into this tub; I will know whether he was there or not.
The king and his two eldest sons would have liked to jump in, but they didn't, and the youngest prince, without a moment's thought, led his brightly coloured horse out of the stable and jumped on. Then the horse flew up into the air like an arrow, and from thence straight down into the tub, and as he descended he sucked up the hot lead through one nostril, and let it down through the other: so he descended into the tub, and the lead cooled so that no harm came to them.
- It's you, you're the one who came to see me! - cried the queen of the fairies. - You are mine, I am yours, spade, hoe and big bell shall separate us!
At one time they had a great feast, and after the feast they went on their way, and did not stop until they reached Fairyland. They are both still alive today, if they are not dead.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 3)
