The Three Princes The Three Dragons And The Old Woman With The Iron Nose
:
The Folk-tales Of The Magyars
On the shores of the Blue Sea there was a land in which dragons grew.
This land had a king whose court was draped in black, and whose eye
never ceased to weep, because every Friday he had to send ninety-nine
men to the dragons, who were the pest of the place, and who slew and
devoured the ninety-nine human beings sent to them. The king had three
sons, each of whom was handsomer and more clever than the other. The
king
as very fond of his sons, and guarded them most carefully. The
eldest was called Andrew, the next Emerich, and the youngest Ambrose.
There were no other lads left in the land, for the dragons fed on lads'
flesh only. One day Andrew and Emerich went to their father and begged
him to allow them to go and fight the dragons, as they were sure they
could conquer them, and that the dragons would not want any more human
flesh after they had been there. But the father would not even listen to
his sons' request. As for Ambrose, he did not even dare so much as to
submit such a request to his father. Andrew and Emerich, at length, by
dint of much talking, prevailed upon their father to allow them to go
and fight the dragons. Now, there were only three dragons left in the
land: one had seven heads, another eight, and the third nine; and these
three had devoured all the other dragons, when they found that there
were no more lads to be had. Andrew and Emerich joyfully galloped off
towards the copper, silver, and golden bridges in the neighbourhood of
which the dragons lived, and Ambrose was left alone to console his royal
father, who bewailed his other sons.
Ambrose's godmother was a fairy, and as it is the custom for godmothers
to give presents to their godchildren, Ambrose received a present from
his fairy godmother, which consisted of a black egg with five corners,
which she placed under Ambrose's left armpit. Ambrose carried his egg
about with him under his left armpit for seven winters and seven
summers, and on Ash Wednesday, in the eighth year, a horse with five
legs and three heads jumped out of the egg; this horse was a Tatos and
could speak.
At the time when the brothers went out to fight the dragons, Ambrose was
thirteen years and thirteen days old, and his horse was exactly five
years old. The two elder brothers had been gone some time, when he went
into the stable to his little horse, and, laying his head upon its neck,
began to weep bitterly. The little horse neighed loudly and said, "Why
are you crying, my dear master?" "Because," replied Ambrose, "I dare not
ask my father to let me go away, although I should like to do so very
much." "Go to your royal father, my dear master, for he has a very bad
attack of toothache just now, and tell him that the king of herbs sends
word to him through the Tatos-horse with three heads, that his toothache
will not cease until he gives you permission to go and fight the
dragons; and you can also tell him that if you go, there will be no more
dragons left on this earth; but if you do not go his two elder boys will
perish in the stomachs of the dragons. Tell him, also, that I have
assured you that you will be able to make the dragons vomit out, at
once, all the lads whomsoever they have swallowed; and that his land
will become so powerful when the lads, who have grown strong in the
stomachs of the dragons, return, that, while the world lasts, no nation
will ever be able to vanquish him." Thus spoke the Tatos colt, and
neighed so loudly that the whole world rang with the sound. The little
boy told his father what the Tatos colt had told him; but the king
objected for a long time, and no wonder, as he was afraid lest evil
might happen to his only son: but at last his sufferings got the better
of him, and, after objecting for three hours, he promised his son that
if the Tatos were able to carry out its promise he would give him
permission to go and fight the dragons.
As soon as he had uttered these words his toothache left him. The little
lad ran off and told the message to his little horse, which capered and
neighed with delight. "I heard you when you were bargaining," said the
horse to its little master, who in his delight didn't know what to do
with himself, "and I should have heard you even if you had been a
hundred miles away. Don't fear anything, my little master; our ride, it
is true, will be a long one, but in the end it will turn out a lucky
one. Go, my great-great-grandmother's great-great-grandmother's saddle
is there on that crooked willow; put it on me, it will fit me exactly!"
The prince ran, in fact he rushed like a madman, fetched the ragged old
saddle, put it on his horse, and tied it to a gate-post. Before leaving
his father's home, the little horse asked its little master to plug up
one of its nostrils; the prince did so, and the little horse blew upon
him with the other nostril which he had left open, when, oh, horror! the
little boy became mangy like a diseased sucking pig. The little horse,
however, turned into a horse with golden hair, and glistened like a
mirror. When the little boy caught sight of his ugly face amidst the
hair of his shining horse, he became very sad. "Plug up my other
nostril, too!" said the horse with the golden hair. At first the little
master would not do it, until the horse neighed very loudly and bade him
do it at once, as it was very unwise to delay obeying the commands of a
Tatos. So what could the poor lad do but plug up the other nostril of
the horse. The horse then opened wide its mouth, and breathed upon the
lad, who at once became a most handsome prince, worthy to be a fairy
king. "Now sit on my back, my little master, my great king, we are
worthy of each other; and there is no thing in the world that we cannot
overcome. Rejoice! You will conquer the dragons, and restore the young
men to your father's realm; only do as I bid you, and listen to no one
else."
In an hour's time they arrived on the shore of the Red Sea, which flows
into the Blue Sea. There they found an inn, and close to the inn, within
earshot, stood the copper bridge, on the other side of which the dragon
with seven heads roamed about. Andrew and Emerich were already at the
inn, and as they were very tired, they sat down and began to eat and
drink: when the new guest arrived the knives and forks dropped from the
two princes' hands; but when they learned that he, too, had come to
fight the dragons they made friends with him. They could not, however,
recognise him for all the world. Night set in, and Andrew and Emerich
had eaten and drunk too much, and became decidedly drunk, and so slept
very deeply. Ambrose ate little, drank nothing, and slept lightly. At
dawn the Tatos-horse pulled his master's hair, in order to wake him;
because it knew that the dragon had least strength at dawn, and that the
sun increased his strength. Ambrose at once jumped on horseback and
arrived at the copper bridge: the dragon heard the clattering of the
horse's hoofs, and at once flew to meet him. "Pooh!" cried the dragon
and snorted, "I smell a strange smell! Ambrose, is it you? I know you;
may you perish, you and your horse! Come on!" They fought for one hour
and three quarters. Ambrose, with two strokes, slashed six of the
dragon's heads off, but could not, for a long time succeed in cutting
off the seventh, for in it lay the dragon's magic power. But, at last,
the seventh head came off too.
The dragon had seven horses, these Ambrose fastened together, and took
them to the inn, where he tied them by the side of Emerich's horse.
Andrew and Emerich did not awake till nine o'clock, when Emerich asked
Andrew if he had killed the dragon, and Andrew asked Emerich if he had
done so; at last Ambrose told them that he had killed the dragon with
seven heads and taken away his seven horses, which he gave to Emerich,
who thanked him for them. The three then continued their journey
together as far as the silver bridge: here again they found an inn,
which stood close to the bridge. Emerich and Andrew ate and drank and
went to sleep as before; the Tatos horse, as soon as day began to break,
awoke his master, who cheerfully jumped up, dressed neatly, and left the
princes asleep. The Tatos scented the dragon quite ten miles off, and
growled like a dog, and the dragon in his rage began to throw his sparks
at them when four German miles off; they rushed upon each other and met
with a tremendous clash on the bridge; it was a very difficult task for
Ambrose to conquer this huge monster, but at last, through the skilful
manoeuvring of his horse, he deprived the dragon of all his eight
heads: the eight horses belonging to the dragon he tied to a post near
the head of the eldest prince, Andrew. Andrew and Emerich did not awake
till noon, and were astonished at the sight of the splendid horses,
questioning each other as to who could have brought them there at such
an early hour, and then came to the conclusion that the prince must have
killed the dragon, and that these horses had belonged to the monster,
for no such horses ever neighed under a man before. Ambrose again
confessed that he had killed the dragon, and brought away his horses for
them. He also urged his two companions to hurry on to kill the third
dragon, or they would be too late. They all got on horseback, but in
their joy two of them had had to eat and drink, till they had more than
enough, but Ambrose, according to his custom, took but little; the two
elder brothers again went to sleep and slept like tops; but again the
little Tatos pulled Ambrose's hair, so soon as the morning star began to
glimmer.
Ambrose got up at once, and dressed even more quickly than before; for
the journey he took a small flask of wine, which he secured upon his
saddle. The horse warned its master to approach the dragon with great
caution, because it was a very excitable one, and if he got frightened
the least it would be very difficult to conquer the monster. Soon the
monster with nine heads arrived, thumped once on the golden bridge, so
that it trembled under the thump; Ambrose dashed at the dragon and
fought with it, but they could not conquer each other, although they
fought fiercely and long. At the last hug, especially, Ambrose grew so
weak that, if he had not taken a long draught from his flask he would
have been done for on the spot; the draught, however, renewed his
strength, and they dashed at each other again, but still neither could
conquer the other.
So the dragon asked Ambrose to change himself into a steel hoop and he,
the dragon, would become a flint hoop, and that they should both climb
to the top of yon rock, which was so high that the sun was only a good
span above it; and that they should roll down together, and if, while
running, the flint hoop left the rut, and, striking the steel hoop, drew
sparks therefrom, that Ambrose's head should fall off; but if on the
other hand, the steel hoop left the rut and struck the flint hoop so as
to draw sparks, then all the dragon's heads should fall off. But they
were both wise and stuck to their own ruts, rolling down in a straight
course till they reached the foot of the mountain without touching each
other, and lay down when they got to the bottom. As they could not
manage in this way, the dragon proposed: "I will become a red flame and
you will become a white one, and which ever flame reaches highest he
shall be victor." Ambrose agreed to this also; while they were
contending, they both noticed an old crow, which croaked at them from a
hollow tree; the dragon was an old acquaintance of the aged crow, and
requested it to bring in its beak as much water as would extinguish the
white flame, and promised that if he won, he would give his foe's flesh
to the crow, every bit of it.
Ambrose asked for a single drop of water, and promised the crow all the
flesh of the big-bodied dragon. The crow helped Ambrose: it soaked its
crop full of water and spat it over the red flame; thus Ambrose
conquered his last foe. He got on his horse, tied together the nine
horses of the dragon with nine heads and took them to his brothers, who
were still snoring loudly, although the sun had reached its zenith and
was hot enough to make a roast. At last the two lazy people got up, and
Ambrose divided the nine horses between them and took leave of them,
saying, "Go in peace, I myself am obliged to run wherever my eyes can
see." The two good-for-nothing brothers were secretly delighted, and
galloped off homewards. Ambrose turned himself into a small rabbit, and
as it ran over hill and dale it ran into a small hut where the three
wives of the three dragons were seated. The wife of the dragon with
seven heads took it into her lap and stroked it for a long time, and
thus addressed it: "I don't know whether Ambrose has killed my husband;
if he has, there will be a plague in the world, because I will turn into
a great pear tree, and the odour of its fruit will be smelt seven miles
off, and will be sweet to the taste but deadly poison. The tree which
thus grows from me will not dry up till Ambrose plunge his sword into
its root, then both it and myself will die." Then the wife of the dragon
with eight heads also took the little rabbit in her lap, and spoke thus:
"If Ambrose has killed my husband there will be a plague in the world, I
can tell you! because in my sorrow I will change into a spring; there
will be eight streams flowing out of this spring, each one of which will
run eight miles, where it again will sub-divide into eight more
branches. And whoever drinks of the water will die; but if Ambrose wash
his sword in my blood--which is the water of the spring--all the water
will at once dry up and I shall die." Then the wife of the dragon with
nine heads spoke to the rabbit, saying, "If Ambrose has killed my
husband, in my sorrow I will change into a huge bramble, and will
stretch all over the world, all along the highroads. And whoever trips
over me, will die; but if Ambrose cut my stalk in two anywhere the
bramble will dry up everywhere and I shall die."
Having listened to all this, the little rabbit scampered off out of the
hut; but an old woman with an iron nose, the mother of the three
dragons, chased him, and chased him over hill and dale: he ran, and
rushed about, till at length he overtook his brothers; jumping on his
little horse's back, he continued his journey at his leisure. As they
travelled on, his eldest brother longed for some good fruit; just then
they saw a fine pear tree, whereupon Ambrose jumped from his horse, and
plunged his sword into the roots of the tree, and drew blood, and a
moaning voice was heard. They travelled on for a few miles, when Emerich
all of a sudden became very thirsty: he discovered a spring, and jumped
off his horse in order to drink, but Ambrose was first to arrive at the
water; when, plunging his sword into it, it became blood, and fearful
screams were heard, and in one moment the whole of the water dried up.
From this point Ambrose galloped on in front till he left his brothers
two miles behind, because he knew that the bramble was stretching far
along the country road; he cut it in two, blood oozed out, and the
bramble at once dried up. Having thus cleared away all dangers from his
brothers' way, he blest them and separated from them.
The brothers went home, but the old woman with the iron nose persecuted
Ambrose more than ever, being in a great rage at his having killed her
sons and her daughters-in-law. Ambrose ran as hard as he could, for he
had left his horse with his brothers; but when he was quite exhausted
and had lost all confidence in himself, he ran into a smithy, and
promised the smith that he would serve him for two years for nothing if
he would hide him safely and well. The bargain was soon struck, and no
sooner had the smith hidden him than the old woman appeared on the spot
and inquired after a youth: she described his figure, the shape of his
eyes and mouth, height, colour of his moustache and hair, dress, and
general appearance. But the smith was not such a fool as to betray the
lad who had engaged to work at his anvil for him for two years for
nothing. So the old witch with the iron nose got to know nothing and
left the place growling. One day Ambrose was perspiring heavily by the
side of the anvil, so at eventide he went for a short walk in the road
in order to get a mouthful of fresh air. When he had nearly reached the
edge of the wood, which was only at a dog's trot from the smithy, he met
a very old woman with wizened face, whose carriage was drawn by two
small cats: the old woman began to ogle little Ambrose, making sheep's
eyes at him, like fast young women do. "May hell swallow you, you old
hag," said Ambrose to her angrily, "I see you have still such foolish
ideas in your head, although you have grown so old!" Having said this he
gave the carriage in which the witch sat, a kick, but poor Ambrose's
right foot stuck fast to the axle, and the two cats scampered off over
hill and dale with him until he suddenly discovered that he was trotting
in hell, and saw old Pilate staring at him. The old witch with the iron
nose--because it was she who had the carriage and pair of cats--fell
over head and ears in love with the young lad, and at once asked him to
marry her.
Ambrose shuddered when he heard this repulsive, unnatural request. "Very
well," said the woman with the iron nose, "as you don't intend to marry
me, into jail you go! twelve hundred-weight of iron on your feet!" Nine
black servants seized hold of poor Ambrose, at once, and took him nine
miles down into the bowels of the earth, and fastened a piece of iron
weighing twelve hundred-weight on his feet and secured it with a lock.
The poor lad wept and groaned, but no one had admission to where he was,
with the exception of the old witch and one of her maids. The maid of
the witch with the iron nose was not quite such an ugly fright as her
wizened old mistress, in fact she was such a pretty girl that one would
have to search far for a prettier lass. She commenced to visit Ambrose
in his prison rather often, sometimes even when the old witch did not
dream of it--to tell the truth, she fell head over ears in love with the
lad, nor did Ambrose dislike the pretty girl; on the contrary, he
promised to marry her if she were able to effect his escape from his
deep prison. The girl did not require any further coaxing, but commenced
plotting at once. At last she hit upon a scheme, and thus spoke to her
darling Ambrose: "You cannot get out of this place, unless you marry the
old woman with the iron nose. She having once become your wife will
reveal to you all her secrets; she will also tell you how she manages to
keep alive so long, and by what ways and means she may be got rid of."
Ambrose followed her instructions and was married to the old witch by a
clergyman--there are clergy even in hell, as many as you want. The first
night Ambrose, after having for a long time been kissing and making love
to the old iron nose, asked her: "What keeps you alive for so long, and
when do you think you will die? I don't ask these questions, my dearest
love," he added, flatteringly, "as if I wished for your death, but
because I should like to use those means myself which prolong your life
and keep away everything from me which would shorten life, and thus
preserve me, living long and happily with you." The old woman at first
was half inclined to believe his words, but while meditating over what
she had just heard, she suddenly kicked out in bed, and Ambrose flew
three miles into hell in his fright.
But the result of all the questioning and flattering in the end was that
the old woman confessed. She confided to him that she kept a wild boar
in the silken meadow, and if it were killed, they would find a hare
inside, inside the hare a pigeon, inside the pigeon a small box, inside
the little box one black and one shining beetle: the shining beetle held
her life, the black one her power; if those two beetles died then her
life would come to an end, too. As soon as the old woman went out for a
drive--which she had to do every day--Ambrose killed the wild boar, took
out the hare, from the hare the pigeon, from the pigeon the box, and
from the box the two beetles: he killed the black one at once, but kept
the shining one alive. The old witch's power left her immediately. When
she returned home her bed had to be made for her. Ambrose sat by her
bedside and looked very sad, and asked her with tears if she, who was
the other half of his soul, died what would become of him, who was a man
from earth and a good soul, who had no business there. "In case I die,
my dear husband," said the doomed woman, in a mild voice, "open with the
key which I keep in my bosom yon black closet in the wall. But you can't
remove the key from my bosom until I am dead. In the closet you will
find a small golden rod; with this rod you must strike the side of the
castle in which we are, and it will become a golden apple. You, then,
can get into the upper world by harnessing my two cats in my carriage,
and by whipping them with the golden rod." Hereupon Ambrose killed the
shining beetle too, and her para (animal soul) left the old witch at
once.
He then struck the castle side with the golden rod, and it turned into
an apple; having harnessed the two cats and patted them with the golden
rod, he bade the maid sit by him, and in a wink they reached the upper
world. The maid had been kidnapped by the old witch with the iron nose
from the king of the country in the upper world, in whose land the mouth
of hell was situated. Ambrose placed the golden apple in the prettiest
part of the country and tapped its side with the rod and it became a
beautiful castle of gold, in which he married his sweetheart and lived
with her happily. Some time after he returned to his father's land,
where an immense number of strong soldiers had grown up since Ambrose
had killed the dragons. The old king distributed his realm among his
three sons, giving the most beautiful empires to Ambrose, who took his
father to him and kept him in great honour. His wife bore pretty
children who rode out every day on the Tatos.