Once upon a time, there was a poor man and his twelve sons, in a land that was once seven hundred and seventeen countries wide. The poor man went out into the woods to cut wood, and as he was cutting the wood, a great snake came out of the bushes and spoke to the poor man:
- Do you hear, poor man, take me with you, and keep me at your house!
The poor man is frightened, he didn't know what to answer soon.
Take it or not? Whether it brings misfortune to your house, or good fortune.
He says it does:
- I'll take you with a good heart, but know that I have twelve sons, and they have food when they have it and when they have not.
- Just take me, poor man, you won't regret it.
Well, the poor man takes the snake in his arms, takes it home and lays it on the ground in the house.
But the poor woman was almost in despair when she saw the snake.
- 'Oh, that he had a soul and a god,' said the poor woman, 'to bring a snake to the house!
Tell the poor man how it happened, God help him, it will be as it will be!
Meanwhile, the boys come into the house, sit down around the table, the woman puts the soup in the middle of the table and they start to spoon.
Suddenly, the snake from under the table speaks:
- My mother! Give me a bowl of soup too!
A bowl of soup is passed to him, but he has chewed it up in a moment, and has spoken again:
- Mother, give me some bread! And a whole loaf. If possible, as big as a wheelbarrow, for I am very hungry.
- "Oh, my soul, my son," says the woman, "I would give with a good heart, if I had one, but I have not.
- Just go out, mother, to the chamber, and you'll see how it will be there.
The woman goes out into the chamber, and my lord, her eyes are wide open with dreaming. For the things that were in that chamber were beyond the ken of man.
Gold, silver, and diamonds stood in tubs; bread, bacon, sausage, and all that was good and eatable; wine by the barrel: the poor woman could hardly fit into the chamber. But there was bread. Not one, but ten, all as big as a wheel of tallow.
For at once there was great rejoicing at the poor man's house. The whole village was there; they ate and drank and were merry.
When the village people are scattered, the snake says to the poor woman:
- Mother, go to the king: ask him to give me his youngest daughter.
- Oh, my soul, my son! - "how dare I do that," said the poor woman reluctantly?
- Just go away, and don't have any other problems.
What could be done, the poor woman goes. She goes before the king and tells him, with great courage, why her son sent her. The king says:
- All right, poor woman, I'll give my daughter to your son, but go back and tell him to send me a sack of gold, and make it as big as a big man's. Then my daughter shall be his. But if she is not able to do this, you may tell her to get out of my country, or else her head will be on a stake.
The poor woman goes home and tells the snake the king's message.
But he filled it with gold, not one bag, but ten. I think it was even more, because I saw it like today: six whole wagons (hay wagons - ed.) were used to carry the huge amounts of gold.
Hey, my lord, the king was delighted to have such a terribly rich son-in-law. He saith at once to his youngest daughter:
- Well, my daughter, get ready for the wedding! Today is your aunt's wedding, today is yours.
The little princess could not even say a word, so the king put six horses in a golden carriage and sent them after the snake. But what did the princess think, what did she not think, she slipped out of the palace and into the carriage, she wanted to see what her bridegroom would be like.
Oh, dear God, cried the little princess, crying, even beating herself to the ground when she saw her bridegroom. But she cried in vain, and they put her in the carriage, and the snake sat beside her, and so they went back to the king's city.
The poor princess even covered her fiancé with a large cloth so that he would not be seen. But it was in vain, because when they arrived at the courtyard, the snake jumped out of the carriage and slithered up to the palace after the princess. There the wedding of the two elder princesses was in progress.
But there was a big scare when they saw the snake.
The King said:
- Well, you ugly animal of God! My word I cannot copy, my daughter I give to you, but here in my palace you have no place, perish from here!
The princess runs out with a great crying cry, followed by the serpent, and as they go down the graveyard, he says to the princess:
- Don't grieve, fair princess, all will soon be well!
There was a little house in the king's court, and they went into it, and in that moment, my lord, the serpent became a handsome prince such as the world had never seen.
He says to the Princess:
- Well, do you see? I am not a serpent, but an old witch hath bewitched me to walk in a serpent's skin for twelve years. Twelve years have passed in the twinkling of an eye.
Hey, the princess was happy! She wanted to run up to the palace to tell her father what had happened, but the prince said:
- You stay here, I'm going up!
All right, the prince goes up to the palace in a nice cute mockingbird. He's very well received there. Nobody knew him, but they thought he must be some rich prince.
Once they put him in first place and then encouraged him to dance. For he didn't need much encouragement, the prince was soon dancing. Whatever he thinks, whatever he thinks, he dances, he wiggles his head, turns into a white pigeon, and jumps out of the window.
But there was much dreaming, wondering! Who and what could this lad be? They were very sorry that he had flown away, for he danced very well. And meanwhile the king was thinking, he thought he would go down to his daughter and the serpent's son-in-law, and see what they were doing.
He enters the little house, and there, my lord, sits his daughter at the table, and opposite her sits the serpent - I mean, the prince who had flown out of the palace in the form of a dove. But now the king is in a good humour. He has taken his daughter and son-in-law up to the palace, and it is only now that the real great wedding has taken place.
For seven days and seven nights the gypsies pulled and pulled, the lads and the girls walked. Then the prince took his wife to his country. And he took the poor man with his wife and his twelve sons. They all became great lords. They had no more care for the Sora people, and they live to this day, if they are not dead.
(Elek Benedek: Hungarian tale- and mythology Volume 3)
