There once was a poor widow who had only one son. His name was Palko. They lived in great poverty. Sometimes they had food to eat, and sometimes they didn't. Their only possession in life was a dilapidated little cottage with its walls crumbling down, the roof falling in, and a little yard around it.
One day Palko got tired of their lifestyle, and told his mother, "Mother dear, I refuse to go hungry here at home anymore. I'm going to go find work as a servant, and I won't return until I have earned enough money to be able to buy a young calf. It can live here in our yard, and when it grows up, we can sell it for more money. That will be good income."
His mother thought this was a good plan, and Palko did as he had planned. He went into service for a year, and earned enough money for a calf. Then he went into service for another year and bought another calf. He went into service for two more years still, and bought two more calves.
The calves grew and grew, and before you knew it, Palko and his mother had four fully-grown cows in their yard. But the yard was small, and not enough grass grew in it to feed all of the animals. Palko decided it was time to take all four to market and sell them.
As he was walking, a gray-haired old man approached from the other direction. "Young man, I have a flute that plays quite nicely. I'll give it to you for one of your cows."
"Uncle, you can't be serious," said Palko. "I can't give you a cow for a flute."
"Make the trade, don't worry. It's not any old flute. It will be of use to you one day, fear not."
Palko thought it over, then shrugged his shoulders and decided to give it a try. He traded one of the cows to the man for the flute, and continued on his way.
But he hadn't gone as far as a gun could shoot before the old man appeared before him again. The man said to Palko, "Young man, give me another cow, and I'll give you a mouse in return!"
Palko laughed out loud. "How could I give you a cow in trade for a mouse? Do you think me stupid, Uncle? We have enough mice running around at home, just ask my mother!"
"True, true, but this is not a mouse like all the others! Trust me!"
The man talked and talked until Palko gave him one of the remaining cows for the mouse. He walked towards town, with only two cows now. But before you knew it, the old man had appeared in front of him again so suddenly that for all Palko knew, he had dropped from the sky. He said to the boy:
"Young man, I have a beetle. It's the real deal! I'll give it to you in trade for another one of your fine cows!"
"Absolutely not, I won't give it to you." said Palko. "I was stupid enough to give you two other cows for the flute and mouse, but even I'm not stupid enough to trade a cow for a beetle. You can't have any more of my cows!"
"I'm telling you, boy, that you should give me a cow in return for this bug, because it'll come in handy for you one day!"
So Palko thought and thought, and gave the old man a third cow. He continued on towards the town, morosely, realizing what foolish trades he had made. He had half a mind to turn back and search out the old man to demand his cows back, because he regretted the trades so much.
He didn't have to turn back, however, because the old man appeared in front of him again another time. He said, "Young man! Give me your last cow, and I'll give you a sack!"
"No," said Palko. "It's out of the question. I wish I hadn't given you the other three animals, either. What a fool I was to let you swindle me! I don't know how I can face my mother after this."
"There, now. You fret too much. Just give me the last cow, and don't worry about anything. This isn't just any old sack. You should know that it is full of dreams. All you have to do is to speak into it, tell it how many hours you want to sleep. Or you can tell it to put someone else to sleep. All you have to do is ask it nicely."
Palko thought to himself. "Why should I even bother going to the market like this, with only one cow? I might as well give him the last one."
When the fourth cow had been handed over to the old man, he said to the boy, "Well, son, go home now. You won't be able to stay there very long. Your mother is going to beat you until someone rescues you. But once you are free, run, wherever your eyes can see, and yell back to your mother, 'God bless you, Mother, and I shall not return until I am king!'"
All this came to pass. When Palko returned home, he didn't have any easy time of it. As soon as he walked in the door, his mother asked, "Did you sell the cows, my son?"
"Yes, Mother, I did."
"How much did you get? Where's the money?"
"I didn't sell them for money, Mother. I traded them instead. Here's what I got in return." And he pulled out of his back the flute, the mouse, the beetle, and the burlap sack. Upon seeing these objects, the old widow got very irate. She grabbed a broomstick and started striking Palko with it; wherever she could land a blow, she did. If a neighbor hadn't heard the commotion and run over to rescue Palko, his mother would have surely beaten him to the ground.
Once free from his mother's blows, Palko started running as fast as he could, wherever his eyes saw. He shouted back to his mother - "God bless you Mother, and I shall not return until I am king!"
When Palko got tired, he stopped running, and walked instead. He walked on and on, past seven kingdoms, past the Operencia Sea, past where the short-tailed little pigs root, until he reached a large city. Then he stopped, and looked around.
In this city there lived a king. The king had a beautiful daughter that he loved very much, but the princess was very sick. She had such a sorrow weighing her heart down that no one could make her laugh, nor did dreams ever reach her eyes, not at night, and not during the day.
The king had announced to the kingdom that he would give his daughter and his kingdom to the person who could make his daughter laugh, and who could give her some sort of balm that she could fall asleep. Everyone who heard the proclomation came to try their luck - princes, royals, barons, came, and also soldiers, wanderers and peasant types. But not one of them could make the princess laugh, and not one of them could put her to sleep.
When Palko heard the challenge, he decided to go straight to the king's courtyard. He announced that he would also like to try his luck with the princess. He asked the courtiers to have the girl sit on the palace balcony, and he would show her something in the courtyard to make her laugh. So the princess sat down on the balcony, the king next to her, the queen as well. All the courtiers gathered to see what the poor boy could do.
Palko brought out the mouse and beetle from his bag, and put them gently on the ground. Then he began to play a tune on the magic flute, and - Oh, the wonder! The mouse grabbed the beetle around the waist, and they danced such a dance around the courtyard that even the dust was flying in the air! And the princess laughed so loudly at this sight that the entire palace rang with it. The king laughed, the queen laughed, and all the courtiers laughed along as well.
"Well, son," said the king, wiping his eyes of the tears the laughter had brought, "you have made my daughter laugh. That part of the challenge is completed. Now you just have to figure out a way to make her fall asleep."
Palko nodded. "Take her into her chambers, your majesty. Put her to bed, and you'll see that she'll go right to sleep." The courtiers took the princess into her chambers, and when she was tucked safely into her bed, Palko stuck his head into the sack and said very politely, "Let the princess sleep until eight o'clock tomorrow morning!" And in that moment the princess's eyes shut tightly, and she slept sweetly until the next morning at eight.
During that time, the king had the courtiers dress Palko in beautiful scarlet-colored garments made of silk and velvet and fashioned a crown for him. When the princess woke up, the two had a wedding feast. The old king gave Palko his daughter and handed over the kingdom besides. Musicians played wedding songs for seven days and seven nights straight, and everyone in the city danced straight through.
After the wedding feast ended, Palko returned to his mother, and brought her to the palace in a horse-drawn carriage. And neither of them had to worry ever again about buying salt or firewood for the rest of their days.
They live happily today still -- unless they've since died!
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