Once upon a time, across seven and seven lands, there was a king with three handsome sons. This king was always sad, and had neither night nor day, for he was very sad. In black mourning he dragged his diamond palace and the whole city, For there were three dragons in his kingdom, And to the three dragons every Friday seventy lads had to be sent.
The country was so devastated by the extinction of the legions that the king no longer had any soldiers. One day the kings said among themselves: they can no longer watch the ruin of the country and their father's great sorrow. They go, one life, one death, to fight the dragon.
They tell their father what they want, but the king is even more distressed. He didn't want to let his sons go in any case, at least they would stay alive. But the boys talked and worshipped until the king said:
- Okay, I don't mind. The two older ones can go, but Ambrus, the youngest, can stay at home. He's young, weak, not fit for war.
The two older princes choose two golden-haired steeds, they ride off with great joy; the little prince stays at home in great sorrow. But - lest I forget - the little prince's godmother was a fairy woman, and when Ambrose was baptised she gave him a three-spined egg.
This three-spined egg was kept under the arm of Prince Ambrus for seven years, and on the last day of the seventh year a three-headed, five-legged trollop hatched from it. This was the steed of Ambrus.
When his brothers had gone, Ambrus went out to the stable, fell on his steed's neck, and wept bitterly.
- Why are you crying, little master?
- Of course I cry, my sweet horse, my brothers have gone to fight the dragons, but my father will not let me go.
- Do not weep, little master, go in to your father; his tooth is very sore, and tell him that I tell him, through me, the King of Grass, that his tooth will never be healed until he unleashes you on the dragons. Thou mayest also tell thy father that he shall not grieve, for thou shalt surely slay all the three dragons, and then the three dragons shall vomit out all the lads that are buried alive in their bellies, and thy father shall have soldiers enough again.
The boy prince goes to his father and tells him what the horned steed says.
- I don't mind, my son, though my teeth may ache to the end of the world, I won't let you go.
- But so be it, father, let me go, and you will see that I slay the dragons, and then your teeth will be no more painful.
As he said this, the King's teeth began to ache, so badly that he thought he was going mad. In great agony, he said to his son:
- Go, my son, God be with you!
The prince returns to the stable with great joy.
- We can go, my sweet horse, my father has let me go.
- All right, my little master, but first go to the back garden, there is an old willow tree, and in the willow's bough is the saddle-saddle of my fair mother's fair mother. Take it out, and lay it on me. So we'll go against the dragons.
Prince Ambrus runs back, finds the saddle harness, and suddenly puts it on his horse.
- Now, little master, plug one of my nostrils.
Ambrus sticks it in, and the horse blows at it with the hole in his other nose. At that moment, Ambrus' skin was all shaggy. Ambrus sees his face in the golden hair of the steed, and is so frightened of himself that he begins to tremble inside him.
- You're scared, aren't you, little master? Now plug my other nostril hole.
Ambrus did not want to plug it in. He was afraid it would get uglier. But the hermit said:
- Take my word for it, or there will be trouble.
All right, he pulled his finger out of one hole in his nose, because he stuck it in, and stuck the other in, and the second time the fairy blew on it, and, my lord, my creator, Ambrus' face was so radiantly beautiful that he could have been a fairy king. So he caught the elf up, and they did not stop till they came to the mutt that stood by the brass bridge. Under this copper bridge lived the seven-headed dragon.
He goes into the mutt, and there are his brothers, eating and drinking, he greets them, they accept his greeting, but they don't recognise him, he's changed so much. But when they heard that he had come to fight the dragons, they became strong friends with him. The two older princes soon fell asleep, and suddenly they were as sound asleep as the black earth. Prince Ambrus also lay down, but he did not sleep soundly, and when his steed came at dawn and pulled his hair, he sprang to his feet.
- Come on, little master, now fight the dragon, for when the sun rises, his power is much greater!
Ambrus jumps up on his horse, draws his sword, and the seven-headed dragon comes to meet him. From his seven heads he spewed flame and roared from afar:
- I knew you'd come, Prince Ambrus!
- Well, if you knew, here I am.
And with one blow he cut off three heads. The herald leaps, and Ambrus rushes at him from the other side, and at the second blow three heads fall again. His seventh head was still there, for therein was his true strength and his devilishness.
- "Well, once more, master!" the herald encouraged him.
And with one blow the dragon's seventh head fell off. There were seven horses under the seven-headed dragon. Ambrus took the seven horses by the reins and tied them to the mare's stall.
The older kings wake up in the morning, go to the copper bridge, and there lies the dragon, and the lads walk out of his stomach. They look at each other, wondering who could have killed the dragon.
- "Not me," said the eldest prince.
- "But neither do I," said the middle one.
- Well, then, it must have been that soldier who killed him.
They go back to the mutt, where they find King Ambrus.
- You killed the seven-headed dragon, didn't you?
- What can I deny, I killed him. There in the stable are the seven horses. I'll give them to you.
The royals were delighted with the seven beautiful steeds, and all three of them mounted their horses and galloped to the silver bridge. Meanwhile the eight-headed dragon was living. And there was a mutt by the silver bridge, and there the princes sat down. The two eldest fell asleep, and woke when the sun shone through the window, but King Ambrus was awakened by his horse at dawn. He also killed the eight-headed dragon. He had eight horses, and he gave those eight horses to his brothers.
Later that evening, they galloped to the Golden Bridge. There lived the nine-headed dragon. Prince Ambrus killed the nine-headed dragon before sunrise. He too had nine horses, and he gave all nine to his brothers. He even gave them the horse with the troll, so that they could go with him. He knew they would take him home. Even now he would not say who and what he was.
As soon as his brothers had said goodbye and galloped a long way, he took himself, put his hand through his head and turned into a rabbit. For you know that King Ambrus was taught all manner of devilry by his godmother, the fairy woman. Not far from the Golden Bridge was a diamond palace, where the wives of all three dragons lived. Up to this palace went Prince Ambrus, in the guise of a rabbit. The three women were sitting together, mourning the dragons' destruction. The little rabbit jumps in, and, whoops, into the arms of the seven-headed dragon's wife. The wife pets the rabbit and says:
- Prince Ambrus killed my lord, but there will be a death in the world such as has never been. 'For you shall know,' he said to the other two women, 'that this very day I shall be turned into a pear tree, and I shall grow pears so smelly that they will smell them from seventy-seven miles away, and whoever eats of them will die a horrible death. But somehow Prince Ambrus must not see it, for if he with his sword strikes me in the root, I shall wither, and there shall be no death.
Then the rabbit jumped into the lap of the eight-headed dragon's wife. She stroked the rabbit and said:
- There will be a death, I can tell you that. For I will be turned into a well, so that its waters will flow eight ways, and whoever drinks a drop of it will be the son of death. But let not Prince Ambrose prick me in the well, for then I shall dry up, and there shall be no death.
Now the rabbit has jumped into the lap of the nine-headed dragon's wife. She stroked it and said:
- It's either a pestilence, or it's not because of you, but I'm going to wipe out the whole world, because I'm going to turn into a nine-branched blackberry, run all over the world, everyone will stumble over me, and I'll be dead soon. But somehow Prince Ambrus mustn't cut me, for if he cuts just two of my branches, I'll wither away and there'll be no death.
Well, the rabbit didn't need any more. He jumped off her lap and ran out the door. But just as she was about to jump out, the mother of the three dragons, an old witch, came out to meet her. She looked at him, and at once she knew King Ambrus. She clapped her hands together, gave a great shriek, and said to her daughters-in-law:
- Do you know who was here? It was Prince Ambrus!
Without another word, he ran after the rabbit. But the rabbit also ran like the plague. One jump, two runs, he catches up with his brothers. There he quacked over his head, he was Prince Ambrose again, and mounted the trotter's horse.
- Run, boys, or our lives are over!
The royals looked back, and indeed the witch flew after them on her broomstick, and with her big, terrible mouth she blew so great a wind that she knocked the princes off their horses.
The royals gallop and gallop, but they are so parched with thirst that they were about to die. And behold, what do they see? By the roadside stood a beautiful pear tree. The red pears stretched down to the ground, and the smell of the good pears stung their noses.
- Wait a minute, let's just tear a pear!" said the eldest prince.
- 'Don't touch it,' cried Prince Ambrus, 'or you'll be killed!
At that moment he stabbed his sword into the root of the tree, and the tree suddenly withered.
They marched on, and came to the well. The two older princes tried to drink from the well, but Prince Ambrus stabbed them with his sword, and the water turned to blood.
They went on their way. At the front was Prince Ambrus, and as soon as he saw the cedar-tree, he cut off two. At that moment all nine branches withered. Meanwhile the old witch flew, flew after them on the broomstick. She was almost upon them. But by a blessed chance there was a forge by the road, and Ambrus dismounted from his horse and said:
- You go ahead. The witch is not after you anyway; I'll hide in this forge.
Ambrus goes into the forge and says to the blacksmith:
- Hear me, master blacksmith, hide me in your workshop, and I'll strike iron for two years for free.
The blacksmith gladly stepped in and hid King Ambrus. When the witch came into the workshop and asked him if he had seen such and such a prince, he said:
- I've never seen a king in my life.
The witch left in a great rage. But it was terribly hot in the forge, and Prince Ambrus went out into the woods for a little while in the evening. As he was walking in the forest, he suddenly saw a horrible, ugly old hag coming towards him in a little carriage. In front of the carriage were two cats.
- 'My, what fine horses you have, madam,' says Prince Ambrus.
- "I'll bet," says the old hag, "you might see what good runners they are. Come, sit here with me. I'll give you such a shout, you'll remember it till the end of the world.
What did Prince Ambrus think, what didn't he think, he sat down on the carriage. For all the old hag wanted was the mother of the three dragons. She struck the cats with her whip, and, oh, my goodness, the cats ran at her, and galloped through the bushes and ditches, on the ground and in the air, and suddenly, whoops, they were stuck in a lick. There they were in the land of hell.
- 'Well, Prince Ambrus,' said the old witch, 'now you are in my hands. You will not get out of here until you marry me.
- "Well, I'll stay here," said Prince Ambrus.
Then he took King Ambrus and led him into a black tower. The black tower had seven iron bars, and he locked all seven of them on him.
Poor Prince Ambrose mourned, and then he raised a great strong grief. The old witch visited him every day and asked him:
- Do you want to go to your country, Prince Ambrus?
- Alone, yes, but never with you, you old witch.
The old witch had a chambermaid, who also went with the witch to the black tower, and this maid went to Prince Ambrus once without the witch, and said to him:
- Do you hear me, Prince Ambrus, marry the old witch, and you'll see that all will be well. Thou shalt be delivered from the land of hell, and I shall be delivered, for know that I, too, am a king's daughter. My father's country is just outside the gates of hell. That's where I was abducted by devils when I once walked by.
Very well, Prince Ambrus took the girl's advice, married the old witch, and as soon as he had married her, he began to flatter her.
- See, can you tell me where you got this long life and this strength? Fear not, I mean no harm, I only wish to be as long-lived and as strong.
The old witch believed what Prince Ambrose said, and told him that there was a wild boar in the forest, a rabbit in the head of the boar, a pigeon in the head of the rabbit, a school-box in the head of the pigeon, and a black and shiny beetle in the school-box. The black beetle has his life, the shiny beetle has his power.
But the next day, at dawn, Prince Ambrus went into the forest, saw the wild boar, and shot it. He split the boar's head in two and the rabbit jumped out. He split the rabbit's head in two. Out of the rabbit's head came the dove, and split his head in two. In it was the schoolchild. He opened the lid of the dovecote, and crushed the black and shiny beetle. When he returned, the old witch was laid out.
- "Well," says Prince Ambrus to the girl, "the witch is dead, but how do we get out of here?
- "Don't be sad about anything," said the girl. - Look, there's a black cupboard in the wall, and in that cupboard is a golden rod. With this stick you have only to flick this palace, and it will soon be a golden apple. Then we'll get on the witch's cart. All you have to do is flick the golden wand at the two cats, and they'll fly out of here as if we hadn't been here.
Indeed, everything turned out as she had said. In the twinkling of an eye, they were out of the land of hell and into the home of the girl. There the golden apple was sprinkled with the golden rod, and the palace was so beautiful that they were wondering all over the world.
They were not even warm in the golden palace when they told the father of the girl and the father of the prince Ambrus that they had come home. They gathered all the brethren together, called a priest, had a great feast, and are still alive to this day, if they have not died.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 3)
