The Rewards of Going to School (A Csango Story)

Once there was a man, maybe sixty or seventy years old, who lived with his wife.  But they weren't a very happy couple, no.  They were very poor, and they were always fighting because of it.  They fought morning and evening, winter and summer.  One day, in the middle of an argument, the woman asked her husband, "Tell me old man, when you were young, didn't you ever go to school?"  And he replied that he never had.  So she got very angry with him and told him, "Then in the morning you will gather your things and go down to the school!"

So the next morning the man set off early in the morning and arrived at the school.  The teacher saw him, and said, "What are you doing here?  Do you have a child you want to send here?"

"I have no child, I have nothing!"

"Then what are you looking for here?"

"I've come to school!  I want to be in the class!"

"Oh, Lord," the teacher replied.  "It's too late for you to have come now.  There's no use to it."

So the poor man went back out the door and started home, but without much spirit.  He hung his head as he walked down the road.  As soon as he went through his front gate into their small front yard, his wife stood in front of him.  "Why did you come home?  I thought I told you to go to school!"

"I went there, I did," protested the old man.  "But the teacher sent me home; he said I came too late."

"Well, then you'll just have to go earlier tomorrow!" the wife decided.

And that's what happened.  The old man woke up even earlier, put a biscuit in his carrying bag, and started off for the school.  He was the first to arrive, but the teacher said to him again, "What are you doing here?  I thought I told you yesterday - you're too late for school.  Go home!"

And the old man got very annoyed at this, and decided that he wouldn't be too late the next day.  Before night even set, he had already started back towards the school, and sat outside it all night long.  But still, the teacher told him that he was again too late.

He started home, finally given up.  He was very sad, and even his tears fell as he walked home.  But between two sighs, he looked down and saw that there was something shining in his path.  He bent down and found a bag.  He opened it, and found that it was filled to the brim with gold coins.  Oh, he was beyond happy. 

He rushed home, and was met at the gate by his wife.  "Look, woman!  I went to school for only three days, and see what rewards I've gotten!"  And from the gold they bought horses, cattle, a wagon, and a beautiful house.  And they still live happily - unless they've since died.  And that's the end, run away with it, to the top of the mountain!


Original Source

Palko and the Flute

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!

The Crooked Willow Tree

Once upon a time, there was a big, crooked willow tree on the bank of a river. It was so gnarled, and bent so far over, that there was barely any space separating it from the water.  People used to walk up and down the riverbank, and sometimes commented on the strange tree, but no one ever wondered why it bent so far.

Once a poor man came along and said, "I do believe this willow tree is thirsty!  No matter how far he bends down, he never makes it far enough to drink!”  Disturbed, he returned to town and went straight to the judge.  He asked the judge to gather together eight people in addition to the two of them for a task, and so the judge did.  Then the poor man said that they should all go together to chop down the tree and tip it over into the river so it could drink as much as it wanted, and then they should stand it back the way it was.

So the ten men went down to the riverbank, gathered themselves, and sawed the entire tree down.  Once it had fallen into the river, they saw that the tree had not been dry at all on the inside, but rather so wet and waterlogged that it was nearly dripping.  So the man who had asked the men to chop the tree down said to the judge, "Look, your honor, at how greedily this poor tree is drinking up all the water.  See how thirsty he must have been!  Well, let's leave it here for a week, and then we'll take it out of the river and stand it back up again.  Let's go home now."

But the judge replied, "Let's first count that we're all here, the ten of us - to make sure none of us has fallen into the water or had the tree pull him in."

So he starts to count.  He gets to nine but forgets to count himself.  He does it again and again, but it's always come out to only nine.  He put his hands to his head and started screaming in desperation.  "Oh, the horror, one man has fallen into the water!  I was responsible for all ten of us, now I can't return home.  My honor and good reputation is gone!"

Then the others begin to count, but all of them only get to nine too.  So the first man says, "Well, I can't go home either, because I'm the one who thought this whole plan up.  I'm the responsible one."

So one man finally says, "You know what?  Let's smooth down the clay on the riverbank really smoothly, then lie on our stomachs.  Then we can poke our noses into the ground, and then count how many holes there are in the mud."

So they did.  They lay on their stomachs and thrust their noses into the ground.  They counted them - and lo and behold, there were ten of them.

They were overjoyed and started to dance around in their merriment.  "We have all ten, we have all ten!" 

And then they went home, and they're still there at home - unless they've since died.

The Hen-Eyed Maiden

Once upon a time, far from here and far from there, there was a tiny little village. In the prettiest house lived a widow who had once been pretty, and with her lived her pretty daughter. This maiden was so lovely that she was as slender as a reed, her face as delicate as a blooming rose, her hair was like sun-ripened hay, and her eyes were as blue as the summer sky. So great was her beauty that even the Sun was surprised by it, so much that he would stand still in the sky as He took His daily walk across His courtyard, admiring her.

The girl had one flaw, and one flaw only: she was extremely short-sighted, so much that she was practically blind. In that region, this was known as being hen-eyed, and so she became known in the village as the hen-eyed maiden. This was very unfortunate. Although all the village lads admired her beauty and sighed after her, none of them wanted to consider asking for her hand in marriage. In those parts, a young man wouldn't be able to survive with a blind wife who couldn't hold a shovel in the garden, who couldn't see what she was cooking for dinner. In short, no one wanted to start life's journey out with such a disadvantage, so despite her beauty, she was left waiting. The maiden was despondent over this, as was her mother, but there was nothing to be done.

It so happened that the town held a social which included a dance, and of course the widow and her daughter were in attendance. A young man from a neighboring village had been invited, and as he laid eyes on the beautiful girl, his heart skipped a beat, then leapt around in his chest. He had never seen a girl so lovely, and when he found that she wasn't spoken for, he resolved to visit her house the next evening. But when the locals heard about his plan, they just shook their heads sadly and warned him: "You're wasting your time, young one. She can't see; she's hen-eyed!" But he was so besotten that he replied that he would go see for himself whether she was blind or not.

The next night he did indeed show up at the widow's house. The girl was overjoyed, as was her mother; they gave him food, gave him drink, entertained him, and in short made such a fuss over him that the lad was quite flattered, and didn't even notice that the girl couldn't see much. He thought to himself that the villagers might simply be spreading mean rumors about her by calling her hen-eyed. He left that night with a promise to come back the next evening.

The next day, the mother decided that the young man was a good enough prospect that she would do all she could to help her daughter land him as a husband. "My darling daughter," she began. "I'm going to thread a needle, and tie the thread to your finger. When the young man comes to call, and you two are talking amongst yourselves, jump up suddenly as if you had just seen something on the ground, pull the needle up by the string, and call out loudly to me, 'Look here, Mother, I found a needle on the ground!' Does that sound like a decent plan, daughter?"

"Mother, that would be perfect!" the daughter replied. And so it went, exactly according to the plan. The girl hid the thread in her hand and when the young man came to call, the two stepped outside to take a little moonlit stroll in the front yard so they could get a little privacy. Just as the young man began to think about taking his chances caressing her, she suddenly bent down and exclaimed, "Mother dearest! I've found that needle you were looking for! It was out here on the ground!" Well, the youth was overjoyed. If a girl could see a needle on the ground lit only by moonlight, her eyes must be very good indeed! He left that night in a good mood, resolving to himself that if the next evening's visit was as pleasant as the last two, he would ask her hand in marriage indeed and bring her home to his village.

The next evening came, and everything was going as planned, and after some initial chatter, they sat the youth down at the kitchen table to serve him dinner. The mother had baked a wonderful bread and sent her daughter to the kitchen to fetch it; in the meantime, she set a huge bowl of home-made cottage cheese on the table. The daughter came back with the bread and set it down, but she suddenly saw the bowl of white cottage cheese. The first thought that sprang to her head was that it must be her snow-white cat who often liked to sit on the table. The girl was almost giddy with high spirits, and as she set the bread down on the table, she cried, "Get down from there, you silly old thing!" And with that, she gave the white bowl a strong swat - sending cottage cheese flying all around the room, even into her prospective groom's hair!

The young man jumped out of his chair as if he had been burned. "You two are veritable tricksters, you are! This girl cannot tell cottage cheese from a cat, much less find a needle by moonlight! And I won't take a liar for a wife!" he shouted as he stormed out of the house, never to be seen again, not only in the widow's house but in the whole village.

Whether the beautiful girl found a husband or remained an old maid, I don't know, but if you wish to find out, you can always try visiting her to ask!

King Matthias and The Honest Shepherd

Once upon a time, King Matthias was entertaining the Burkus king, who happened to be his good friend, in the Hungarian court.

"There is a rumor that you have a lamb with a golden coat," the visitor stated at one point.

"The rumor is true, I do. It is tended by a shepherd who is also quite unusual; he is a completely honest man. He has never lied."

"Is that so? Well, perhaps I can change that. I will make him tell a lie."

"I highly doubt that, my friend," replied King Matthias.

The two quickly made a bet. King Matthias wagered half his kingdom on the honesty of the shepherd, and the burkus king wagered his half that he could make him lie.

The Burkus king dressed as a peasant and went to find the shepherd. However, when the king found the shepherd, the latter greeted knew him as a king at once, and greeted him as such. The king was very surprised. "How did you know that I am a king?" he asked.

"The way you speak gives you away," the shepherd answered.

"Well, since you know that I'm a king, you also know that I have great wealth to spare for what I want. I understand you guard a lamb with a golden coat. I will buy him from you, and you will be a wealthy man for the rest of your life and never have to work anymore."

"I do apologize, sir, but the lamb belongs to King Matthias, not me. He would execute me if I was to sell it. So, I cannot give him away for any amount of gold."

The Burkus king tried to convince the shepherd, offering him large amounts of money, but the shepherd didn't relent. The king finally went away. He was very annoyed, and his daughter noticed it when he returned home. She asked her father if he would not let her try to convince the shepherd in her own way. He agreed, so she took a bottle of the best wine they had and took it to the shepherd.

The shepherd accepted the wine, but refused all her attempts to convince him to sell the lamb. During their conversation, the shepherd drank the wine, and grew comfortable. When the princess offered herself in marriage to the shepherd if he sold her father the lamb, she agreed. She ordered the shepherd to slaughter the lamb and skin it; he did so, and she took the coat to her father.

The next day, the shepherd was devestated. He realized what he had done, and didn't know how he would explain this to King Matthias. He came up with one excuse after another in his mind, lies upon lies, but he realized it would be futile. Finally, he arrived at the throne room of the palace and entered.

"What news have you, friend shepherd?" King Matthias asked.

"I am grieved to report, Your Majesty, that I have made quite an error in my judgment, and I stand ready for your judgment.  I have traded the lamb with the golden fur, the one you put me in special charge of, for a black lamb," the shepherd replied.

King Matthias nodded. "Bring me the black sheep, then," he said.

The shepherd pointed at the Burkus princess, who was sitting next to her father, the visiting king.

"It is so!"  King Matthias laughed and laughed.  "Your honesty has won you half a kingdom. The Burkus king offered half his kingdom in his wager; I give it to you now."

And so the shepherd was rewarded for his honesty by marrying the princess and becoming the ruler of a kindgom of his own.

The Cart and the Carriage - A King Matthias Story

King Matthias may have been the grandest king of all, but he still enjoyed disguising himself as a commoner and wandering from town to town, village to village, hamlet to hamlet, so that he could see with his own eyes and hear with his own ears the condition his country was in, and how people treated one another when they thought the royals were afar. 

Once, during one of his rambles about the countryside, he grew tired of walking.  He was near a main road, so he walked to it and stopped the first cart that was headed his way.  Its horse was straining against his heavy load, but the poor peasant driving it cheerfully invited the tired traveler to hop on; his weight wouldn't make much difference to the horse.  So the king accepted and sat on the cart next to the peasant and chatted with him to pass the time, but he did not reveal to the man that he was indeed the king.

The cart went on quietly for a while, but soon they saw dust up ahead; another vehicle was approaching quickly in the opposite direction.  Since the road was only one lane wide, one of them would have to give way to let the other pass.  They saw that the other carriage must have belonged to a rich man, for it was an ornate carriage pulled by six beautiful horses.  Indeed, it belonged to a proud baron, and as a matter of courtesy the peasant started to give way and move his horse and cart.

As he was already starting to make way, the carriage's driver couldn't resist shouting down haughtily at the peasant.  The cart's driver yelled haughtily down at the peasant. "Get out of our way, you mangy thing!  The baron is an important man and has no time for your kind to keep him waiting!"  And he let loose a string of profanities directed at the peasant.  King Matthias grew angry and quietly instructed the peasant to keep on the road instread of making way. When the poor man protested, he himself took the reins from him and stopped the cart so that he would have no chance of moving off the road. 

Seeing this, the carriage's driver grew furious and started screaming more at them.  Even the baron stood in his seat and ordered his driver to lash the insolent man who would not turn out of the way.  He ordered the man to approach the carriage to get his lashes.  So the king jumped down from the cart, stood in front of the carriage driver.  "Shall I remove my coat so the lash can reach my back better?"  he asked, and without waiting for an answer, he started to unbutton his ragged coat.  Underneath the tattered, dirty cloth was a royal outfit of velvet, with necklaces of gold.  The baron recognized King Matthias immediately. He grew terrified and started shaking like a leaf.

The king remained calm.  "I command you to take two of your horses and give them to the peasant there; four horses are enough to pull your carriage, even if it is a shiny one." The driver quickly did as he was told, but King Matthias instructed the baron to get down from his seat and assist him. When they were finished, he continued.  "Now you can get up, back on your carriage. Hurry, hurry, giddy-up. But I command you to make way for this peasant's cart, because empty carriages need make way to fully loaded ones." And from that day forward, it was the law that carts with heavier burdens were given the right of way, no matter how humble they might be.