Have you heard the news about Koltsvár? In the beautiful valley of Hátszeg, on a high hill, this castle shone. There was none more beautiful in the land. This castle belonged to the Kendeffy family, and at the time of the terrible Tartar invasion, Ilona Kendeffy lived alone in this castle.
Alone, because his father, his brothers and his betrothed Matka all fought against the Tartars. Poor Ilona Kendeffy waited and waited for them to come back, but she waited in vain. Suddenly the news of her death came to her father, the news of her death to her brothers, but there was no news of her mate, whether he was alive or dead, whether the Tartars had taken him away or not: no one knew.
Time has passed. The Tartars had long since gone back to their homeland, and Ilona Kendeffy's matzah had still not returned. One evening Ilona Kendeffy was sitting outside on the balcony of the castle, and as she sat there, sleep came over her. She had a wonderful dream. In front of her stood her betrothed mate, and said to her:
- If you want me to be yours, you must have as much gold as it takes to get to where I am now in sad bondage.
Ilona wakes up, thinks about the dream, and sighs:
- My God, my God, what could this dream mean?! If my mate be in captivity, he can only be in captivity in the great Tartary, and who has gold enough to reach there?
The next evening he went out on the balcony again. The still evening breeze brought sleep to his eyes. Now an angel appeared before him. The angel said to him:
- Do not mourn, Ilona Kendeffy. Take up your guzsaly, spin day and night, and you'll see, you'll have so much gold that it will reach as far as the great Tatar country, where your mate is in sad bondage.
Ilona wakes up, thinks, ponders her dream, and sighs:
- My God, my God, I don't understand how it's possible! For even if I spun until the Day of Judgment, I could not get enough gold to reach the great Tartary.
But he thought this in vain, he had no more peace of mind, he took out his guzsalyas, sat out on the balcony in the evening, spun the spindle, and quietly unwound the thread. And now, my lord, what has happened?
The yarn she spun turned into a hinge of colour, and as she spun it, the golden yarn flew on silently and beautifully towards the Great Tatar Country, and not a week later the golden yarn reached the Great Tatar Country, the door of the dungeon in the Great Tatar Country, the door of the dungeon opened, and one evening, when Ilona was sitting on the balcony, spinning quietly, there stood her betrothed's mate...
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 2)
