THE HUSSAR AND THE SERVANT GIRL.*

by

^the

young ^{man. Death}

implored ^to be set _free, but the

young

^{farmer said,}

"

_Promise

me

then that

you

^will

make me

arich

man, and

^{then I will let}

you

^out."

Death

_promised

him

this,

and

_{they agreed} that the

man was

to be a _doctor,

and whenever Death

stood at the _{patient's feet,} he orshe

was

notto die,

and

could be cured

by any

^{sort of medicine whatever : but}

if

Death

stood at the _patient's head

he was

to die: with this theyparted.

Our man

reacheda

town where

theking'sdaughter

was

_veryill.

The

doctors

had

tried^allthey^could,but werenot ableto cure_her, sohe said that he

was

_going to cure_her, ifshecould be_cured,

ifnot,

he would

^tell

them

; sothereupon

he went

intothepatient

and saw Death

_standing at herfeet.

He

burnta stack of hay,

and made

^a bath forher of the _ashes,

and

she recovered so soon as she

had

bathedin it.

The

_king

made ^him

so

many

presents thathe

became

a very ^rich

man:

he

removed

to the town, brought ^{his wife there,}

and

lived in great style as a doctor.

Once however he

fell sick,

and

his

koma

_[his child's godfather]

came

and stood at hishead,

and

the

patient

begged

^hardfor

him

to go

and

^{stand at his} feet, but his

koma

_replied, ^"

Not

if I

know

_it," and then the doctoralso departed ^{tothe otherworld.}

THE HUSSAR AND THE SERVANT GIRL.*

HE

^{wife ofa}_priestⁱⁿ olden times, ^it

may

^{have been}

in theantediluvian world, put ^{all the} plates, dishes,

and

_milk-jugsinto a basket and sent the servant to

wash them

in the brook.

While

the_girl

was

_washing she sawa _cray-fish crawl out of the water, and,^as she

had

never seenone inher^life before, she stood_staring^atit,

and was

alittle

* The zestof this taleturnsupona similarity in the soundof thewords in

Magyar^for"cray-fish,"and^"crawling."

G 2

I

84 MAGYAR

FOLK-TALES.

frightened. ^{It so}

happened

that a hussar rode _past

on

horse-back,

and

the _girl asked him,

"Would _{you mind}

_telling

_me, my

gallant horseman,

what

sort of a God's

wonder

thatyonder is?"

"

Well,

my

sister," said the _soldier, "

that is a cray-fish."

The

servant then took _courage,

and went

nearthe _cray-fish to lookat it,

and

_said, ^"

But

itcrawls!

" "

But

it'sacray-fish," said the soldier again.

"

But

itcrawls,"^saidthe servant abruptly, "

But

it's a cray-fish," said the soldier a third time.

"

Well,

my

gallant horseman,

how

can

you

stand there

and

tell

me

that,

when

I can see thatit crawls

?"

said the servant.

"

But,

my

^sister,

how

can

you

stand thereandtell me,

when

I cansee that it's a cray-fish

?"

said the soldier.

"Well, I'm

neither blind nor a fool,

and

I canseequite well that^it'sa-crawling,"^saidtheservant.

"

But

neither

am

^Iblindnora_fool,

and

Ican seethatitisa cray-fish," saidthe soldier.

The

servant got^so angry^thatshe dashed her crockery ^{to the}

ground and

broke it into fragments, crying, ^{in a} great rage,

"May

^I perish here^{ifit is}not a-crawling^!"

The

hussar

jumped

off his saddle,

drew

his sword,

and

cut off his horse's head, saying,

"May

^the executioner cut off

my

^{neck like this if}

it isn'ta cray-fish^!

"

The

soldier

went

his

way

^{on foot,}

^and

^the

servant

went home

without her_ware,

and

the _priest's wife asked,

"

Well,

where

are all the pots^?

"

The

servant told her

what had happened

^{between thesoldier}

and

her about a _cray-fish

and

a-crawling.

"

Isthat the reason

why you have

^{done all the}

damage?"

^{said the} priest's wife. "

Oh, mistress,

how

could 1 give ⁱⁿ

when

I

saw

_{quite well} that it

was

a-crawling;

and

still

that nasty ^soldierkept

on

_saying it

was

a cray-fish?

"

The

wife of the _priest

was

_{heatingthe oven,} as she

was

_going to bake, and she got^into such a rage that she seized her

new

fur jacket, ^for

which

she

had

_given a

hundred

_florins,

and

_pitched it into the oven, saying, "

May

the flames of the fire

burn me

^like this if

you

were not both _great fools!"

"What

is all this smell of burning?

"

asked the_priest,

coming

^in. Learning

what

_had

hap-THE HUSSAR AND THE SERVANT

GIRL. 85 pened about ^a cray-fish

and

a-crawling, he took his

gown ^and

cutit

up

^{on the threshold with a} hatchet, saying, a

May

^the

executioner cut

me

into bits like thisifthe three of

you

^arenot

fools!

"

Then came

the schoolmaster _(his calf

had

_got loose

and

run intothe clergyman'syard,

and

he

had come

after it to drive it

home):

and, hearing

what had

_happened,

and why, he

caught hold ^{of a} stick,

and

struck his calf such a

blow

on the head thatit fell

down

dead

on

the _spot,

exclaiming,

"

If

God

will,

may

^thefierythunderbolt thusstrike

me

deadif

you

^allfour are notfools!

"

Then came

the churchwarden, and asked

what had

_happened

there,

and when he was

toldhe got^intosucha rage that

he

_picked

up

^{the church-box}

and

dashed it

on

the

ground

^{in themiddle of} the yard, ^sothat the

box was broken

topieces, and the precious altar-covers

and

linen

were

_rolling about

on

the dirty ground, saying,

"

May

^I perish ^likethis, at this very^{hour, ifthe}

whole

five of

you

^{are not fools!}

"

In the

meantime

the sacristan

came

_in, and, seeing the linen

on

the _floor,he threw

up

^his

^{hands and}

^{said, "}"Well, I never^! Whatever'sthe

matter?" Then

_they told

him what had

hap-pened,

and why, whereupon

he picked

up

^{allthe covers}

and

linen andtore

them

into shreds, saying, "

May

^{the devil tear}

^me

^to

atoms like this if

you

^{sixare not a}parcel ofraving^lunatics!

"

News

of the event soon got abroad, and the

whole

congrega-tiongathered together

and

set the _priest's house

on

_{fire, crying,}

"

May

^{the flamesofthe fire}

^burn

^{usalllikethis, every one ofus,}

ifallthe seven were not fools!

"

86 MAGYAR

FOLK-TALES.

In document IS IS (Pldal 159-162)