Hungarian Folk Tales: Pepper Pot Peter
Once upon a time there lived a king,
who lived in doleful sorrow because he had a daughter who limped.
His daughter wept and cried day and night,
because if someone came to court her, they up and left straight away.
The king was afraid that his only daughter would spinster her life away.
And so he sent the word across his kingdom
that whoever could cure his daughter, would live in wealth until the day he died.
Now so many swarmed to the castle that the doorknob always had a hand on it.
But the king's daughter still limped.
Pepper Pot Peter also went to try his luck.
They called him Pepper Pot Peter because he was really very little.
So off went Peter, and went and went on his way until he came upon a poor woman
who was carrying a heavy load of wood.
Let me help you, old lady, I'll carry this – said Peter.
And while the old woman was trying to thank him, he had already stacked the wood for her.
What brings you to this distant land? – asked the old woman, just when Peter was bidding her farewell.
I'm off to cure the limping daughter of the king.
Well fine it is that you met with me, because only I know what the cure is.
But it's not easy to get hold of.
Well, tell me which way I have to go.
Listen carefully, son.
On the summit of the Glass Mountain there's a little lamb,
and around its neck there's a golden bell.
If you can ring that bell three times under the girl's window, then you are sure to cure her.
And how can I find my way there?
Only with the magic horse of the King of the Giants, and no one has ever been able to get it out of its stable.
Pepper Pot Peter thanked her for her directions.
And off he went without stopping until he came to the castle of the King of the Giants.
Under the gate was a hole and through he went, straight to the stables.
He tried to untie the magic horse, the horse let out such a whinny
that the King of the Giants fell out of his chair, for lest I forget, the king was at his dinner.
Well then, off he ran straight to the stable.
Peter in his great fear turned into a flea and hid in the manger.
When the King of the Giants left, Peter climbed out again to untie the tether of the magic horse.
Again the horse let out the whinny, this time so louder the king hit his head against the wall,
and off he ran to the stables without pause for thought.
Once again he saw not a soul because Peter turned into a flea and hid in the manger.
The king gave the horse a good whack.
Why should it be whinnying when no one was hurting it?
At his third try, Peter managed to untie the horse.
In vain it whinnied, the king didn't go to the stable.
When Peter got through the castle gate with a magic horse,
it whinnied so loudly that the walls of the three bastions trembled.
The king came out in a rage and saw that his horse had been stolen.
He jumped on the back of a tomcat and off he went after Peter.
Peter was very pleased with the horse.
The moment he set its spurs to it, the horse flew to the Glass Mountain.
There he saw the little lamb with a golden bell dancing in the silken meadow.
He went up to the lamb but when he tried to take the bell off the lamb's neck,
an angry little devil popped out of the ground.
I've been waiting for you, you good-for-nothing! – he told Peter.
Shook him fiercely and ordered him to make a barrel in the woods.
When Peter had finished, the little devil went out and sat on the rim of the barrel and said:
Now I'm going to stuff you into the barrel, you thief!
Peter saw that this was no joke and suddenly turned into a bee,
and stunned a little so hard on the finger that it fell backwards into the barrel.
Peter quickly put the lid onto the barrel, leaving a tiny hole so the little devil wouldn't suffocate.
He took the bell off the lamb's neck, jumped onto the horse,
and didn't stop until he got to the window of the limping daughter of the king.
He rang the bell for the first time and saw that the bushes and trees started to dance.
Then he rang the bell for the second time,
and the court chamberlain and all the courtiers came out with the king himself,
and everyone danced and sang.
He rang the bell for the third time and then the king's daughter opened the window.
Pepper Pot Peter asked her to dance with him.
And she didn't limp, not even a step!
So joyful were they all that no one wanted to stop the revelry.
Well my son, you have cured my daughter, marry her and make her your wife for life.
With that he took the crown off his head, and gave it to Peter, and he was just about to try it on,
when the King of the Giants arrived on the back of the tomcat.
You can imagine the panic!
The King of the Giants opened his mouth wide and swallowed down the whole court in one gulp.
He didn't even hiccup,
he only spat up the trees and the bricks the way that someone else spits out cherry stones.
Peter at the last moment had jumped aside and hidden in the trousers pocket of the King of the Giants.
There he was safe and sound.
The king himself was so full that he could hardly breathe, so he sat down on the ground.
Pepper Pot Peter waited until he had fallen asleep,
then he climbed out of the pocket, called a thousand spiders together.
And so that he couldn't move.
Then Pepper Pot Peter somersaulted across the belly of the giant and it bursts straight away,
and the people of the court were saved.
Nine and ninety tailors sewed up the stomach of the King of the Giant's.
By the time they had finished the giant had slept it off.
But he didn't have such a good time at Peter's wedding feast
for all he could eat was three oxen.
A month and a day after the wedding Peter took possession of the kingdom,
under the name of Pepper Pot Peter the first.
And that's the end of my story.