Once upon a time there was a poor woman and her only son, his name was Hansel.
Hansel once says to his mother:
- Mother, I'm going to try my luck. Maybe I'll just get something, and kend's life will be better.
The poor woman baked scones, slit her son's throat, and Hansel set off to fight seventeen countries.
He looks this way, he looks that way, he sees no one. Then he looks up at a tree, and there is a snake coiled on the upper branch of the tree, and it has spoken to him.
The snake said to Jancsi:
- You lad, take me down from the tree and take me home to my father, you won't regret it.
Hansel climbed up the tree, and rolled the snake off the branch, and the snake grabbed him by the neck, but didn't hurt Hansel.
Then Hansel descended from the tree, walked on, and asked the snake:
- Where does your father live?
Said the snake:
- Can you see that big fire over there? There lives my father in his diamond palace.
He believed it, but he didn't believe it, but he just took the snake and didn't ask any more questions.
They go on, they go on, and suddenly a pig stands in front of them with a big grunt.
The pig says to Janci:
- Put down that snake, lad, for it will charm you as it charms me! You see, I was a prince, and he made me a pig.
Said Hansel:
- I don't mind what he makes me; I promised to take him home: I'm a man of my word.
As soon as they have gone a few steps further, the snake says:
- You're lucky you didn't listen to that pig! He could have been a king even now, but I cast a spell on him, because I begged and pleaded in vain, and he wouldn't take me home to my father.
They are not even a stone's throw away, when a horse trots in front of them, and says to Jancsi:
- Put down that snake, lad, for it will charm you as it charms me.
- 'I don't mind if he does,' said Hansel, 'I promised to take him home: I'm a man of my word.
When they had gone a little further, the snake said to Janci:
- You see, Hansel, I also conjured this one because it didn't take me home to my father.
They go on, they go on, and then a bull comes towards them with a loud bellow.
Tell that to Jancsi:
- Put down that snake, lad, for it will bewitch you as it did me.
Said Hansel:
- Let him do his magic, I don't mind; I promised to take him home: I'm a man of my word.
They went on with that. When they got a little further away from the bull, the snake says:
- You see, you lad! These were all three of the princes, and I asked all three to take me down from the tree and bring me home to my father, but none of them had the heart to have mercy on me. So I conjured all three.
In the meantime, they arrived at a large fire that they could see from a distance. Not far from that fire was the palace of diamonds, where the father of the snake lived: the king of snakes.
In front of the diamond palace a regiment of soldiers stood guard, and when Hansel and Gretel arrived, they stood in two lines and saluted.
They go up the diamond staircase, and as they go, the snake says to Janci:
- Do you hear, my good fellow! My father, for which you have brought me home, offers you as much silver and gold as you can carry, and perhaps more, but you shall accept nothing but the large tablecloth laid out on the dining-table.
They enter the palace, and the Snake King welcomes Janci with great joy, and says with enthusiastic words:
- Make a wish, lad! I'll give you gold, silver, diamonds for bringing back my only daughter.
Said Hansel:
- I don't want your gold, your silver, your diamonds, my King, but the great tablecloth that is spread on the dining-table!
- 'Very well, my son,' says the snake king, 'I'll give it to you, and it's my most precious treasure after my daughter. For you will find that this tablecloth has only to be folded at the four corners, and it will soon be full of food and drink. If you keep this tablecloth, you'll never have to worry about food and drink in your life.
There the king is about to show what the tablecloth can do. He folds in the four corners, and there was so much food and drink on it that the table crunched underneath, even though all four legs and even the top were gold. They sit down at the table, the snake king encourages Janci:
- Eat, eat, my son!
They eat and drink, and suddenly what happens, what does not happen - nothing more than nothing - it is enough that the snake king's daughter turns round the table, and in a moment she disappears as if swallowed by the earth, and there is a beautiful girl in her place, but so beautiful that Jancsi's eyes are wide open with dreaming.
The girl says:
- You're wondering, aren't you, lad, but look at me, I'm the snake you brought home.
- "I don't mind," said Hansel, "whether you are or not, but if I see you first, I'll not ask your father for an abrosta, but for you.
Says the snake king:
- Do not grieve, my son! I'll give you the bride, I'll give you the girl, I'll give you the treasure of the sea, and you may live happily ever after.
But Hansel and Gretel, not least the snake-queen, were delighted with this speech. They had a great feast, dancing seven days and seven nights.
Then the young men got into a six-horse carriage; in front of the six-horse carriage went a regimental hussar, and after him a regimental hussar; and two regimental foot soldiers went on either side of the carriage, and so they set off for Hansel's home.
But what else did they take after them! Six chariots of silver, six chariots of gold, six chariots of diamonds. When they arrived at the home of Hansel, they built a diamond palace just like the snake king's.
They also moved Hansel's mother in. But she had a good life after that, she had her hands and feet crossed, she lived like a queen.
This is the end, run away from it!
(Ágnes Kovács: Folk tales for kindergarten children)
