Further Titles in the Series

Level A2

István Fekete Thorn Castle

(Tüskevár)

Hungarian Folk Tales

(Magyar népmesék)

Hungarian Legends

(Magyar mondák)

Level B1

Frigyes Karinthy Please, Sir

(Tanár úr kérem)

László L. Lőrincz The Shame of the Great Dome

(A Nagy Kupola szégyene)

Ferenc Molnár The Paul Street Boys

(A Pál utcai fiúk)

Level B2

István Csukás Bowler Hat and Red Nose

(Keménykalap és krumpliorr)

Frigyes Karinthy A Journey Round My Skull

(Utazás a koponyám körül)

Géza Ottlik School at the Frontier

(Iskola a határon)

The Bluebird Series

Course Book 1 and 2, Workbook, Teacher's Book

Hungarian-English and English Hungarian Dictionary

Hungarian Folk Tales

A2 (900 headwords)

Translation and adaptation: PÁLVÖLGYI NÓRA

General Consultant: MARK GRIFFITH

Illustrations: RONTÓ LILI

ISBN 978 963 05 9121 8

Published by Akadémiai Kiadó, member of the Association of Hungarian Publishers and Booksellers founded in 1795.

1117 Budapest, Prielle Kornélia u. 19.

www.akademiaikiado.hu

First edition: 2011

© AKADÉMIAI KIADÓ, 2011

Responsible for publication: Director of Akadémiai Kiadó

Responsible for editing: POMÁZI GYÖNGYI

Managing Editor: KÁCSOR LÓRÁNT

Page-Setting: LACZKÓ LÁSZLÓ

Cover Design: SÜTŐ RÓBERT

Technical Editor: KISS ZSUZSA

Copyrights are the sole property of the copyright owners listed above. Any copying, distributing and reproducing in any form (electronically, mechanically, by print or photography) without prior permission of all copyright owners is prohibited.

Hungarian Folk Tales

Prince Mirkó

Once upon a time, there was a king who had three sons, but who ignored them day after day. He would spend his time sitting at the seventy-seventh window of the palace as if he was waiting for somebody. Nobody knew what or who he was waiting for. They only knew that one of the eyes of the king was tearful all the time while the other was laughing. The princes wanted to know why their father behaved like that.

“Let’s ask him,” said the eldest and they all agreed.

The eldest entered the room and the king asked him angrily: “What do you want?”

“Sorry father, but I want to know why one of your eyes is tearful and the other not.”

The king became so angry that he threw his mace at him, and if the eldest prince hadn’t moved his head to one side in time, he would have been dead. The boy was so scared that he ran out into the courtyard to his brothers.

“What did our father say?” asked the boys.

“Go inside and you’ll see.”

The second prince entered and left even faster than his brother.

“What did he say?” asked the youngest brother, Mirkó.

“Go in, Mirkó, and you’ll see for yourself.”

“All right, I’ll go in, too,” said Mirkó and entered his father’s room.

He couldn’t even open his mouth because the mace was flying in his direction, and if he hadn’t moved his head he would have been dead. But he didn’t run out of the room. Instead he took the mace out of the wall where it was sticking like a dagger and took it back to his father.

“Here you are, father. If you want to kill me, go ahead!”

The king liked his brave words.

“You’re a man, my son. You aren’t a coward, so I’ll tell you why I cry with one eye and laugh with the other. I cry because I know that none of my sons are fit to be king, and I can see that my country will fall apart after I’m gone. My other eye is happy because I think of my brave friend who lives in the silk meadow, and who promised that if he defeated all of his enemies he would come to live with me.”

“Didn’t he overcome his enemies?”

“Why, no. If he kills a hundred, a thousand take their place and he has to do it on his own.”

“Don’t you worry, dear father,” said Mirkó, “I’ll go to the silk meadow and won’t return until I find your friend and bring him back.”

Outside, his brothers thought he might be dead, because otherwise he would have run out of the room earlier. When he returned, everybody was surprised. They listened to his story and the eldest brother said:

“I’ll try my luck first,” and he went back to his father.

“My dear sovereign father, I’ve heard from Mirkó that you and your courageous friend need help. I’m your eldest son, so let me go to the silk meadow!”

“All right son, go and leave in peace. Try your luck!”

The eldest son said goodbye to his father and brothers, harnessed his most beautiful steed and set off. He was away for a year, but he couldn’t get further than the copper bridge. His horse couldn’t cross that bridge so he took a plank from the bridge, and brought it back to his father so that he could see that he had reached this place.

“Hey, son, when I was a lad, I could reach the copper bridge within an hour, not within a year. You wouldn’t be able to find my friend even if you had all the time in the world.”

Now, his second son told him that he would try his luck.

The king agreed. “All right, son, try!”

He also harnessed his horse and he came back a year later with a plank from the silver bridge. When he showed it to the king, he just waved his hand.

“I see where you’ve been. When I was your age, getting to the silver bridge took me two hours. Go to bed son, you won’t bring my friend back.”

“But now, it’s really my turn,” said Mirkó, and he entered his father’s room and saw that he was sitting by the window, sobbing unhappily.

“Dear father, don’t you cry. Let me go and I’ll bring your friend back!”

“Don’t go, my dear son, because if you leave now, you won’t come back ever again!”

But Mirkó asked him again and again so sweetly that eventually the king let him go.

Mirkó was overjoyed. He ran to the stable to choose a horse for himself. As he was there trying to decide which one to take, an old woman came up to him and said: “Do you want to go to the silk meadow, Prince Mirkó?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then, you won’t find the right horse here. Go back to your father and ask for his bone bugle and sound it really hard. A golden herd of horses will appear to its sound. Don’t choose a horse from among them, but wait for the small weak colt following behind them that will knock the gate with its tail and make a great noise doing it.”

Mirkó thanked the old lady for her advice and went back to his father.

“I came to ask you to give me your bone bugle.”

“Who told you to do this?” asked the king.

Mirkó hesitated before answering, but then he thought he would tell him the truth. “An old lady told me.”

“All right son, go to the seventh cellar, there you’ll find a bricked-up window where I plastered in the bugle. Take it out of the wall and use it if it still works.”

So Mirkó went down to the seventh cellar and demolished the bricked-up window. There was the bugle. He went to the yard and blew it as hard as he could.

Oh my, how the palace, the court, the garden and all the meadows and forests started to ring with that sound. Suddenly golden horses began to come. They made a huge noise because they had golden bells round their necks. They were really beautiful, but Mirkó paid no attention to them because he was waiting for the weak little colt. It was following the herd at a distance. When it reached the gate it swished its tail so hard that it almost knocked down the whole palace. Mirkó waited until the herd was tied into their stables and then he went to the weak colt and stroked it.

The magic steed started to talk:

“I know why you’re stroking me, Prince Mirkó. You want me to take you to the silk meadow. Don’t worry, I’ll take you there, but before I do, you’ll have to do a lot of things.”

“Your wish is my command.”

“First, give me some fodder, because we are going on a long trip.”

“What do you want, my dear horse? Oat? Hay? Aftercrop?”

“Bring me a sack of barley.”

So Mirkó brought a sack of barley and the horse ate it up.

“Now, bring me a sack of millet.”

He brought him some millet and the horse ate that, too.

“Do you want anything else, dear horse?”

“Give me a hutch full of glowing embers.”

Mirkó was really surprised to hear what the horse told him to do. But he took a hutchful of embers to the horse, who ate them all up and when he had finished them, he shook himself and turned into a beautiful golden steed.

“Now, my dear master, go to the palace and ask your father to give you his sword and rifle that he took to the war fifty years ago and that saddle and bridle that I wore then.”

Mirkó ran to his father and told him: “Dear father. Give me your sword and rifle, saddle and bridle.”

“Which one? I have many.”

Mirkó told him which one.

“Dear son, it won’t do you any good. Both of them are rusty and I have no idea where the saddle and the bridle are.”

Mirkó didn’t mind this he just wanted the magic horse to be happy. He took the sword and also found the saddle and the bridle but they were very dirty. He ran back to the stable.

“Here are the things you asked for, dear horse.”

The magic horse blew on the things and they became shiny again. “This is what we need, young prince.”

Mirkó saddled the horse, put on the sword and the rifle and wanted to sit on the horse, but it told him to leave the town first and mount then. Mirkó did so.

“How do you want me to take you? Fast as the wind or fast as a thought?”

“I don’t care just take me to the silk meadow.”

“Then close your eyes and hang on tight.”

Mirkó closed his eyes and the magic horse flew fast as a thought over forests, mountains and rivers. But Mirkó didn’t see these, because he didn’t want to open his eyes. Suddenly, the horse stopped and stomped its hoof.

“Open your eyes, master. Where do you think we are?”

Mirkó opened his eyes and looked around. “I think we are at the copper bridge.”

“Yes, we are there. Your eldest brother got to this point. Now, close your eyes again.”

Mirkó closed his eyes and the magic horse ascended and flew even faster than before. After a while, he landed and told Mirkó to open his eyes.

“Where are we now?”

“At the silver bridge.”

“Yes. This is where your other brother brought a plank back from. Close your eyes tight and hang on!”

They started again but even faster than before.

“I’m going to fall off, dear horse!”

“Just hold on tight, because there’s a tornado in front of us.”

After getting past the tornado, the horse landed and asked Mirkó what he saw. He answered that he saw a golden bridge and two lions at each end.

“If you see them then close your eyes again right now!”

He only closed his eyes for a moment when the magic horse stomped its hoof again.

“Open your eyes, master! What do you see?”

“I see a glass mountain with its top reaching the sky.”

“Close your eyes again because we have to climb this mountain.”

“Oh, dearest horse, this is surely impossible.”

“Just close your eyes and don’t think of anything.”

After a few seconds, the magic horse asked him to open his eyes and tell him what he saw.

“I can see some big black thing under us.”

“That’s the roundness of the earth. What can you see in front?”

“I see a never-ending glass path and big deep emptiness on both sides.”

“We’ll follow that path.”

“But if we fall, we will die.”

“Don’t worry, dear master, because I still have my diamond-studded horseshoes that your father made me wear. Just hang on!”

This glass path didn’t take long for the magic horse and after seconds it stomped its hoof again.

“Open your eyes. What do you see?”

“I see some lights at the back and pitch dark in front.”

“We have to cross this darkness. You don’t even have to close your eyes.”

He started to cross the darkness, and when they left it behind they got into such bright, glaring light that Mirkó had to shield his eyes.

“What do you see, my young master?”

“I can see a huge meadow with silk grass. This must be the silk meadow.”

“You’re right. This is the silk meadow. Do you see that small black point in the middle of the meadow?”

“I can see it.”

“That’s the silk tent of the old king. It’s made of black silk.”

In a second, they were standing right next to it. Mirkó jumped off the back of the horse and hung the bridle next to the horse of the old king, and then entered the tent. There was the old king lying in his bed fast asleep. There was a sword fighting over him so that his enemies couldn’t bother him in his sleep. Mirkó didn’t want to wake the old man up, so he decided to sleep a bit, too. He lay down in front of the tent but before he did so, he also commanded his sword to fight over him, and then he fell asleep.

After a while, the old king woke up and left the tent and he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Hmm, there’s an unknown horse next to mine and a strange lad is sleeping outside my tent. I could kill him if I wanted to but he didn’t kill me either so I’m not going to.”

But he was all excited so he woke Mirkó up.

“Who are you, lad, and what do you want?”

“My name is Mirkó and I’m the youngest son of the white king. I came here to take you to my father who really wants to see you.”

The old king was very happy.

“Come boy, let’s eat and drink. It’s fifty years since I saw your father.”

“We can have a feast, but what if your enemies attack us?”

“Don’t you worry, boy, we’ll defeat them even if they come in their hundreds.”

So they started to eat and drink but suddenly the enemy attacked them. They were as many as the stars in the sky. They stopped their feast and ordered their swords to fight. They fought so well that only twelve soldiers from the enemy survived. The last twelve fled towards the glass mountain. They all had magic horses because they could climb the glass mountain. Mirkó and the king followed them. At the foot of the hill the king said:

“I can’t follow them because my horse lost the diamond nails from its horseshoe.”

Mirkó didn’t even listen to him but followed the twelve soldiers of the enemy. Suddenly, they vanished without a trace.

“Where can they be?” he was wondering when he saw something black. It was an iron trap door. He opened it and jumped in without even thinking twice. He thought it was the porch of hell and he was right. He found himself outside a diamond castle and he saw the soldiers riding towards it.

“Sword, fight!” shouted Mirkó when he realised that the knights wanted to enter the castle. The sword killed them all. Mirkó stood in front of the castle and decided to go in.

Inside he found a wicked witch sitting in front of a huge loom, and when she threw the shuttle to the right, two hussars jumped out of it, and when she threw it to the left, two foot soldiers jumped out. But they couldn’t threaten Mirkó. He commanded the sword to fight, and the soldiers died before they knew it. But no matter how many had died, the same amount jumped out of the loom.

“I’ll kill the wicked witch and she won’t be able to weave any more soldiers,” thought Mirkó. He cut the head of the witch but it didn’t help, because her hand was still throwing the shuttle and the room was filled with soldiers in a minute. Mirkó got really angry so he killed every soldier and chopped the wicked witch’s body to pieces and also took the loom outside and set it on fire along with the pieces of the chopped-up witch.

“Me and the old king don’t have to fight any more.” But suddenly out of the fire a small bone jumped out, it started dancing and turned into another wicked witch. Mirkó became really angry. He called for his sword, but the witch started to beg him not to kill her. “If you don’t kill me, I’ll help you to leave this place,” said the witch.

“I agree,” answered the prince.

“You have a very kind heart, Prince Mirkó. In exchange, I’ll give you diamond nails enough for four horseshoes. Take good care of them, you’re going to need them.”

Then she led him to the trap door that was invisible to human eyes. She ordered the trap door to open, and the magic horse jumped out of it and they found themselves on the steep side of the glass mountain. Mirkó wanted to dismount, but the horse told him to hang on because humans couldn’t walk down the glass mountain. Mirkó closed his eyes and in a minute they had arrived at the foot of the mountain.

“Open your eyes and tell me what you see, my dear master.”

“I can see that we got back to the silk meadow, and there is the old king there, too.”

Mirkó went up to the old king and said:

“I’m back, old man and you don’t have to worry about your enemies anymore.”

The old king was very happy to see Mirkó again, because he thought the prince had been killed.

“I want you to have the silk meadow and my whole country, because I’ll die soon,” said the old king.

“I didn’t come here to take your country or your silk meadow, but to take you back to my father to spend the rest of your life together.”

The old king mounted his horse, and they started for the country of the white king. When they reached the foot of the glass mountain the king got sad.

“Mirkó, my son, I can’t go to your father, because the diamond nails in my horse’s shoes are ruined.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll replace them,” said Mirkó, and took out the nails that he got from the witch and attached the horseshoes with the new nails.

They set off again and were riding through vast lands and seas, and by the time the stars got up, they had arrived at the castle of the white king who was still sitting in the window crying. But when he saw his long-lost friend and Mirkó, he started laughing. He ran down to the court to meet them warmly. They had had a feast fit for a king for seven days and seven nights.

On the seventh night, the old king said: “Well, old friend, your son’s more courageous than we were when we were young.”

“I agree with you although I don’t think he could defeat the Dogheaded One.”

“I don’t think so, either. The Dogheaded One can’t be defeated by a human.”

“Where does this Dogheaded One live?” asked Mirkó.

The old king told him where his country was.

“Well, if he is there, I’ll find him.”

The old men tried to persuade him to stay, but he started out for the country of the Dogheaded One that night.

“Have you ever been to the country of the Dogheaded, my dear horse?”

“Yes, I have, but I almost lost your father there so you’d be better off staying at home.”

“I swore I’d find the Dogheaded One.”

“All right, my dear master, I won’t stop until we reach that country. We live and die together.”

Mirkó closed his eyes and the magic horse was galloping as fast as he could when suddenly it came to a halt.

“Open your eyes, my dear master, and tell me what you see.”

“I see a six-storey diamond palace so bright that it almost blinds me.”

“What do you see in the sixth window of the sixth floor?”

“I see the most beautiful girl in the world. She must be the daughter of the Dogheaded One.”

“No, this is the daughter of the black king. The Dogheaded One kidnapped her and keeps her here.”

Mirkó got off his horse and went to call up to the girl.

“Don’t come closer because the Dogheaded One will kill you,” she cried out. But Mirkó didn’t listen to her and before she could turn away from the window he was standing in front of her and had greeted her.

“Who are you and how did you dare to come here?”

“I’m Prince Mirkó and I came to kill the Dogheaded One.”

“But no human can kill the Dogheaded One. He throws his mace home from seventy miles away.”

“I don’t care if he throws it home from seven hundred miles away. I’ll fight him and take you back to my country.”

The princess was thrilled by Mirkó’s courage so she gave him some advice.

“I’ll tell you how the Dogheaded One finds his strength. I’ll give you a key to the cellar, go down there and find a barrel. Fill your water bottle with the wine you find inside, and if you put your finger into it you’ll be as strong as five thousand people.”

Mirkó thanked her for the advice, went down to the cellar, filled his bottle and poured the rest of the wine out.

He put the water bottle round his neck and went back to the princess, and they were waiting for the Dogheaded One to come home. Suddenly they heard a strange noise. It was made by the mace of the Dogheaded One flying home.

“Get ready, Mirkó, the Dogheaded One is coming home,” said the girl.

Mirkó put his finger into the wine, went down to the yard and threw the mace back so that it fell in front of the horse of the Dogheaded One. The horse almost dropped its rider.

“My God, I’ve been riding you for six hundred years and this has never happened. What’s wrong?”

“I am shocked that somebody threw your mace back,” replied the horse.

“I know who it is. I dreamed six hundred years ago that Mirkó came here and we fought. Wait until I meet him!”

In a minute he was home.

“Well, Mirkó, you finally arrived. You won’t leave this place alive. Will we fight with swords or wrestle instead?”

“I don’t care. It’s your choice.”

“All right, boy, we start with swords.”

They both commanded their swords to fight.

“This is no good,” said Mirkó, “we should wrestle.”

“All right Mirkó, let’s wrestle. Say goodbye to all of your relatives!”

“You should do the same.”

“I did that six hundred years ago.”

“Then let’s call our swords back.”

Then they started to wrestle but they were equally strong. Then the Dogheaded One threw Mirkó into the ground. Then Mirkó thought of his bottle. He put his finger into it and hit the Dogheaded One to the ground, pulled him by his hair to the bottomless lake, cut his throat with his sword and threw his body into the lake.

The princess was very happy, and kissed and hugged Mirkó. “We should get married.”

They started for home, but suddenly a very sad feeling came over Mirkó.

“What’s wrong, Mirkó? Do you want to leave me here?”

“I don’t want to leave you here, but I feel sorry for the diamond palace.”

“Don’t worry. Here’s a diamond twig. I go back to the palace, and you go round it with this twig, and it will turn into an apple. Put it into your bag and when you get home, hit the apple with the twig, and it’ll become a palace again, and you’ll find me on the sixth floor.”

Mirkó did what the princess told him. He got on his horse and by the count to ten, he was back home in his father’s court.

“Did you defeat the Dogheaded One, Mirkó?” asked the old king and his friend.

“I did.”

“Do you have any proof of that?”

Mirkó didn’t answer in words. He just took the diamond apple out of his bag, hit it with the twig and it changed back into a diamond palace, and in the sixth window of the sixth floor there was the princess.

“That’s the palace of the Dogheaded One. You are a true man, Mirkó.”

They announced all across the country that Mirkó had defeated the Dogheaded One, and from that moment on he was the king of the white country. Mirkó and the princess got married and they lived happily ever after.

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