40 MAGYAR FOLK TALES

fell from the raven's beak, while the bird flew

away

^unhurt.

The _twang

ofthe

bow was

heard allover the mountain,

and

the

two

elderbrothers

came

forward to see

what

he

had

_done;

when

they

saw

thathe

had

shot_uselesslytheyslapped^{his face}

and went

back totheir places.

When

_they

_{had gone}

theyoungest suddenly

saw

a falcon _sitting

on

the top of the rock. This

he

_thought

was

ofvalue, so

he

_shot,butthe arrowstuck in a piece ofpointed rock

which

_projected underthe falcon's _feet,

and

the bird flew

away;

^{asit flew a} piece of rock fell to the

ground which he

discovered to berealflint. His elderbrothers came,

and

_slapped

his face for again shooting ^{in so foolish} a manner.

No

sooner

had

_they

gone and

^the

day was drawing

^{to an}

end

than

he

dis-covereda

squirreljust ^{as it}

was

_running into its holein atree;

so he thought ^{its flesh}

would

be

good

^{to eat; he} shot, but the squirrelescaped into ahollow of the _tree,

and

the arrowstruck

what

_appearedto bea

large fungus,

knocking

^a piece ^off,

which he

foundto bea fine

piece of tinder.

The

elder brothers

came and

_gave

him

a sound_thrashing

which

he took very quietly,

and

after this they did not separate.

As

it

was

_getting dark

and

they

were wandering on

together a fine roebuck darted across theirpath^{; all three} shot,

and

it fell.

On

_they

went

till they

came

to a beautiful

meadow _by

the sideof a spring,

where

_they found a copper trough ^all ready ^for them.

They

^sat

down,

skinned

and washed

theroebuck, got ^all ready ^{for a}

good

supper, but they

had no

fire.

" You

_slapped

my

^facethree times because I

was

_wasting

my

arrows,"^saidthe youngest; "

if

you

^willallow

me

to return those _slaps I will

make _you

a

good

^fire."

The

elder brothers consented,but the

younger waived

^{his claim}

and

said tothem, "

You

see,

when _you

don'tneed athing

you

^think

it valueless; see

now,

^the steel, flint,

and

tinder

you

despised will

make

^{us thefire}

_you

need."

With

that

he made

the fire.

They

spitteda large piece of venison

and had

an excellent hunts-man's _supper. After supper they ^{held a} consultation as to

who

was to be_{the guard,} asthey

had

decided not to sleepwithout a

THE HUNTING

PRINCES. 41 guard. ^It

was

_arranged that they should ^{take the} dutyin turns,

and

thatdeath

was

to be the

punishment

^of

any

negligence of duty.

The

first night ^{the elder brother} watched

and

thetwo youngest slept. Allpassed well ^till midnight,

when

allat once in the direction of the

town

of the Black Sorrow,

which

_lay behindthe Black Mountain, ^a dragon

came

with three heads, a flame threeyards long protruding from^itsmouth.

The

_dragon

lived in the Black Lake,

which

_lay

beyond

^the

town

of the Black Sorrow, with

two

of his brothers, one with five heads

and

the other with _seven,

and

_they

were sworn

_enemies to the

town

of the Black Sorrow. These dragons always used ^to

come

to this spring ^to drink at midnight,

and

for that reason

no man

or beastcould

walk

_there, because whatever the dragons found there they^slew.

As

soon as the dragon caught sight of the princes

he

rushed at

them

todevour them, but he

who

was keep-ing

guard

^stood

up

against

him and

slew him,

and

_draggedhis

body

^intoa copse^near.

The

blood streamed forth in suchtorrents that itput^{thefireout,all save a}singlespark,

which

theguarding prince fanned _up,

and by

^{the next}

morning

^there

was

a fire

such as itdid one

good

^{to see.}

They

^{hunted all} day,returning atnight,

when

the middle _prince

was

_guard.

At

_midnight the dragon with ^{the five} heads

came

; the prince slewhim,

and

^his bloodas it rushed out put ^{the fire} entirely out save one _tiny spark,

which

the prince

managed

^{to faninto a}

good

^fire

by

^the morning.

On

the third night ^the youngest prince

had

towrestle with the dragon with seven ^heads.

He

_vanquished ^it and killed it.

This timethere

was

so

much

blood that the fire

was

_completely extinguished.

When he was

about to relight^ithe found that

he

had

lost his flint.

What was

to be done?

He

_began to

look about him,

and

see ifhe could find

any means

^of relighting the fire.

He

climbed

up

^{into a} very high ^tree, and from it he

saw

in a country three days'journey ^off, on a _hill,a fireof

some

sort

glimmering

^{: so off he}

went

; and as he was going he

met

42 MAGYAR

FOLK-TALES.

Midnight,

who

tried to pass

him

unseen ; but _{the prince}

saw

him,

and

cried _out, "

Here!

_stop ; wait for

me

on this

spot ^till I return."

But Midnight would

^not stop ^{; so}the prince caught him,

and

fastened

him

with a stout strap to a thick oak-tree, remarking, "

Now,

^I

know _you

will wait for

me

!

"

He

went on some

four or five hours _longer,

when he met Dawn:

he asked him, too, to wait for him,

and

as

he would

not

he

tied

him

to a tree like Midnight,

and went

further

and

further.

Time

did not

go

^on,forit

was

_stopped.

At

last

he

arrived at the _fire,

and

found there

were

twenty-four ^robbers

round

a

huge wood

fire roasting a bullock.

But he was

afraid to

go

near, ^so

he

stuck a piece of tinder

on

the

end

of hisarrow,

and

shot itthrough ^{the flames.} Fortunately^{the tinder} caught

fire, but as

he went

to look ^{for it}the dry^{leavescrackled} under his _feet,

and

the robbers seized him.

Some

of the robbers belonged ^{to his father's}

kingdom,

^{and, as} they

had

a

grudge

against the _father, they decided ^{to kill the} prince.

One

said,

"

Let's roast

him on

a _spit"

; another proposed ^to dig ^{a hole}

and

_bury

him

_; butthe chief of the robbers said, "Don't let us killthelad, ^let's take

him

with us as he

may

be very^{useful to} us.

You

all

know

that

we

are about to kidnap ^the daughter ^of theking ^{of the}

town

of the Black Sorrow,

and we

intend to sackhis palace, but

we have no means

of getting ^at the iron cockatthe top of the spirebecause

when we _go

near it begins atonce tocrow,

and

the

watchman

sees us ; let us take this lad with_us,

and

let

him

^{shoot off the iron} cock, ^for

we

all

know what

a_capital

marksman he

^is ;

and

if he succeeds

we

will let

him

_go."

To

this the robbers kindlyconsented, ^as they

saw

they

would by

^this

means

_gain

more

than ifthey ^killedhim.

So

they^{started off,} taking the princewith them, ^till they

came

close to the fortress guarding ^the

town

of the Black Sorrow.

They

then sent the prince in advance that he

might

^{shoot off the} iron cock _; this he did.

Then

said the chief of the robbers,

"

Let's help

him _up

tothe battlements,

and

then he will pull us

THE HUNTING

PRINCES.

43

up, ^let us

down on

the other _side,

and

_{keep guard} for us while

we

are atwork,

and

he shall

have

part of the spoil, and then

we

will let

him

_go."

But

the dog-soul of the chief

was

false,forhis planwas,^that, having^finishedall,he

would hand

the prince over to the robbers. This the prince

had

discovered from

some

whisperings he

had

heard

among

^them.

He

soon found a

way

out of thedifficulty.

As he was

_letting

them down

one

by

^one, he cut off their heads,

and

sent

them

headlessintothe _fortress, togetherwiththeir chief. Finding^himselfallalone,

and no

oneto fear,he

went

tothe king's palace^{: in}thefirstapartment

he

found the king asleep^; inthesecond the queen^{; in} the third the three princesses.

At

the

head

of each one there

was

acandle burning^; thatthe prince

moved

in each case to their _feet,

and

none of

them

^noticed him, except^the youngestprincess,

who

_awoke,

and was

greatly frightened ^at finding a

man

in her

bedroom

; but

when

_{the prince}told her

who

he _was,

and what

he

had

done, she got up, dressed,

and

took the

young

prince into aside-chamber

and gave him

_plenty to eat

and

drink, treated

him

_kindly,

and

accepted

him

as her _lover,

and

_gave

him

aring

and

a hand-kerchiefas a sign oftheir betrothal.

The

_prince thentook leave of_{his love,}

and went

to

where

the robbers _lay, cut offthe _tips of their noses

and

_ears,

and bound them up

^inthe handkerchief, left the _fortress, got ^{the fire, released}

Midnight and Dawn,

arrived at their resting-place,

made

a

good

^fire

by

morning, ^so thatall the blood

was

dried

up.

At

_daybreak in the

town

otthe Black Sorrow,

Knight

^{Red, as} he

was

inspecting the ^sentries,

came

across the headless robbers.

As

soon ashe

saw them he

cutbits off theirmutilated noses

and

ears,

and

started forthe town, walking

up and down, and

telling everybody with great pride

what

a hero he_was,and

how

thatlast

night he

had

killedthetwenty-four^robbers

who

forsucha length of time

had

been the terror of the

town

of the Black Sorrow. His valour soon

came

to the ears of the king,

who

ordered the

Red

Knight

^toappear^before

him

^: here

he

boasted ofhis valour, and

44 MAGYAR

FOLK-TALES.

produced^hishandkerchief

and

the pieces cut from the robbers.

The

_king believed all that

he

_said,

and was

so overjoyed^{at the}

good news

^that he gave

him

_permission to choose

which

of the princesses he _pleasedfor his wife,adding ^that

he would

also give

him

a share of the

kingdom. The Red

Knight, however,

made

a mistake, ^for he chose the youngest daughter,

who knew

^all about the

whole

affair,

and

was _already

engaged

^tothe youngest prince.

The

_king told hisdaughter

he was

_going to give her as awife.

To

this she _said, "

Very

well, father, but to

whomsoever you

intendto give

me ^he must

be a

worthy man, and he must

give proofs that he has rendered _great service to our

town." To

this the king replied,

"

Who

could be able or

who

hasbeen able to render _greater services to the

town

thanthis

man, who

haskilled thetwenty-four ^robbers?

"

The

_{girlanswered,} ^"

You

are _right, father_;

whoever

did that I will be hiswife." "

Well

done,

my

daughter,

you

are quite right ⁱⁿcarrying out

my

^wish;

prepare^for

your

marriage, because I have found the

man who

saved our

town

from this great danger."

The young

girl

began

toget ready with great joy, ^for she

knew

_nothing of the doings of the

Red

_Knight,

and

_only

saw what was

_going to

happen when

all

was

_ready, the altar-table _laid,

and

the

priest called,

when

lo! in

walked

the

Red _Knight

as her bridegroom, ^a

man whom

she

had

_{always detested,} sothatshe could notbearevento lookat him.

She

rushed out

and

rantoher room,

where

she fell

weeping on

^herpillow.

Everyone was

there,

and

all

was

_ready, butshe

would

not

come;

^{her father}

went

in search of _her,

and

she told

him how

she

had met

the youngest of ^the

Hunting

Princes the nightbefore,

and

_requested her father tosend _{a royal} messenger^intothe deserted

meadow, ^where

^the _dragons of the

Black Lake went

to drink at the copper trough,

and

to invite tothe

wedding

the three princes

who were

_staying there_; and asked her father not to press her to

marry

^the

Red _Knight

till their arrival_;

on

such conditions she

would go among

^the guests.

THE HUNTING

PRINCES.

45

In document IS IS (Pldal 116-121)